Criminal defense

August 9, 2016

Shootings in Chicago are Skyrocketing: Too Much Police Paperwork to Blame?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

There is no doubt about it, this year Chicago is experiencing a serious spike in shootings and murders. In fact, ABC7 reports that there were 65 fatal shootings in July alone. What is to blame for this spike in violence? While there are undoubtedly many contributing factors, the head of the Chicago Police Union claims that police paperwork is in large part to blame. In an interview with DNAinfo the union leader explained that the problem does not exclusively stem from paperwork issues, but that the implementation of two-page Investigative Stop Reports has led to fewer police stops and, therefore, more violent crimes being perpetrated on the streets.

Chicago’s New Two-Page Investigative Stop Reports

Starting on January 1, 2016, Chicago’s old checklist contact cards were replaced with two-page Investigative Stop Reports. Under the old contact card system, every time a police officer interacted with a civilian on the street the officer would document the encounter via a simple checklist on an index-sized contact card. However, police officers are now required to document each encounter by filling out a two-page questionnaire. This new requirement means that police officers in Chicago are spending much more time filling out paperwork and much less time interacting with people on the street. An article from DNAinfo notes that during the first 11 days under the new policy there was a 79% decrease in police stops. The article states that there were just 3,916 investigative reports filed during these 11 days, compared to the 16,698 reports that were filed during the same period last year under the old system. This difference is clearly astronomical.

August 2, 2016

Police Officers and Other First Responders May Soon Be Protected Under Chicago’s Hate Crime Law

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Hate crimes, sometimes referred to as a bias-motivated crimes, occur when a perpetrator selects his or her victim based on a perceived membership to a certain social group. For example, if a perpetrator shoots a victim because of the victim’s sex, ethnicity, religion, or sexual identity, then a hate crime has likely occurred. I say likely because the only way to know for sure if a crime qualifies as a hate crime is to check which social groups are protected under the hate crime statute that governs the situation. For instance, if the crime is governed by federal law, then the federal hate crime statute applies. Under the federal hate crime statute, social groups based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability are protected. States, and even some cities, also have their own hate crime laws.

Chicago’s Hate Crime Law

According to Chicagoist.com, Chicago’s current hate crime law applies when a victim is targeted based on race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, prior or active military status, ancestry, or age. In other words, if it can be shown that a defendant’s hate motive against one of these protected groups caused him or her to commit a crime against a member of that group (for example, assault, murder, or harassment) then the defendant can be charged with a hate crime violation in Chicago.

August 1, 2016

Yorkville Man Convicted of Possessing Child Pornography

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

While the First Amendment protects the right of adults to watch and produce pornography, this right is not without limitations. For example, child pornography is not protected under the First Amendment and is always illegal. Child pornography is any visual depiction of a minor, aka a person under 18 years old, engaging in a sexual activity. In recent years the federal government has become more and more focused on prosecuting those who have allegedly produced, distributed, or viewed child pornography.

One of the most recent child pornography cases in Illinois involves a Yorkville man who was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for a child pornography conviction and for violating the Sex Offender Registration Act, reports MyInforms.com. As the man had been convicted of child pornography related crimes three times before, the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office conducted a compliance check in December 2015 to confirm that the Yorkville man was in compliance with the Sex Offender Registration Act. MyInforms.com notes that via this compliance check the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered that approximately 100 images depicting child pornography had been downloaded to the man’s personal computer. After obtaining a search warrant, investigators found that the man was illegally in possession of images showing children younger than 13 years old engaged in sexual acts. The man was charged with five counts of possessing child pornography depicting a child less than 13 years, which is a Class 1 felony.

The Sex Offender Registration Act

July 31, 2016

Illinois’ New Domestic Violence Law

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

According to the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, approximately 77% of women who are currently incarcerated are victims of abuse. This figure is staggering and is part of the reason why this nonprofit helped to pass Illinois’ new domestic violence law, SB0209. SB0209 is important because it allows being a victim of domestic violence to be a mitigating factor at sentencing. A mitigating factor is any information presented to the court, generally about the defendant or the circumstances surrounding the crime, that has the potential to reduce the defendant’s sentence or the crime charged. Therefore, SB0209 was passed in order to enable courts in our state to reduce a defendant’s sentence if he or she was a victim of domestic violence.

Bill SB0209: History of Domestic Violence as a Mitigating Factor

According to SB0209, if a defendant is or was a victim of domestic violence, and the domestic violence tended to excuse or justify his or her criminal conduct, then evidence of the abuse can be a mitigating factor at sentencing. In order to claim being a victim of domestic violence as a mitigating factor, the defendant must prove the following by a preponderance of the evidence:

July 20, 2016

The Illinois State Police Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

You have likely heard of the Sex Offender Registry, but have you ever heard of the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry? Likely not, as this type of registry is not as widely publicized and only exists in Illinois and four other states – Oklahoma, Montana, Kansas, and Indiana. The Illinois State Police Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry is a list that provides the public with the names, addresses, and recent photos of certain convicts who live in the state. If you are facing a serious criminal charge or have already been convicted of a crime in Illinois be sure to consult with a local criminal defense attorney about the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act in order to discuss the registry and determine if it has the potential to impact your life.

Who is Required to Register?

The Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act is contained in code section 730 ILCS 154/1 and details the parameters of the registry. Under the Act, any conviction or adjudication of any of the following statutes requires registration if the victim is less than 18 years old:

July 14, 2016

Professional Baseball Player Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Woman in Chicago

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Baseball Stadium Seats
According to the Chicago Tribune, a Pittsburgh Pirates infielder who was in town to play the Chicago Cubs on June 17 has been accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman in Chicago. The sexual assault allegation is currently being investigated by police, but the baseball player has not yet been charged with a crime. According to the police, the Chicago woman made contact with the infielder via a dating app and the two agreed to meet at his hotel room at approximately 10 p.m. The woman alleges that that he served her one alcoholic drink that caused her to black out roughly 15 minutes later, and that he sexually assaulted her while she drifted in and out of consciousness. The alleged victim had a rape kit done two days later and filed a complaint with the police 10 days after the alleged sexual assault took place. While this woman took action quickly to have a rape kit done and file a police report, it is important to know that after a sexual assault occurs there is a timeframe within which rape kits must be done and sexual assault charges must be filed in order to be effective.

Rape Kits

A ‘rape kit’, also referred to as a Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAEK), is a sexual assault forensic exam kit that is used to collect DNA evidence from a victim’s body, clothing, and other personal belongings after a crime is committed. Rape kits are used to help sexual assault victims preserve possible DNA evidence in case they decide to report that they were attacked. During a sexual assault forensic exam the survivor will generally be examined from head-to-toe, evidence will be collected, and follow up care will be recommended. According to Cleveland.com, rape kits can usually recover testable evidence within 96 hours of an assault. Therefore, the fact that the alleged victim in the sexual assault case outlined above had a rape kit conducted two days after she went to the baseball player’s hotel room should not have prevented DNA evidence from being collected.

July 12, 2016

Schizophrenic Man Faces Murder Charge in Cook County

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a 22-year-old schizophrenic man was recently charged with murdering his cousin in Cook County. Supposedly the defendant was standing on the street with his cousin and a few other people when the group started making fun of the defendant for being mentally slow. Allegedly, the defendant responded by firing a semi-automatic handgun into his cousin’s neck, chin, and chest. The cousin died shortly after and now the shooter is charged with murder. While there are several ways to defend against a murder charge, arguing insanity may be a viable defense strategy for this particular defendant.

Illinois’ Insanity Defense

In Illinois, a person can not be held criminally responsible for their conduct if a mental disease or mental defect caused that person to lack the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct, according to our state’s Criminal Code (720 ILCS 5/6-2). In other words, if a mental defect caused you to not appreciate the criminality of what you were doing while you were committing the crime, then the legal defense of insanity is available to you. Illinois’ insanity defense statute also notes that if a defendant was mentally ill at the time of the crime, but was not insane, then that defendant is still liable for his or her criminal act as it is possible to be found guilty but mentally ill in Illinois. However, in order to successfully claim the insanity defense, the defendant has the burden of providing clear and convincing evidence sufficient to prove that he or she was insane when the crime was committed and, therefore, is not guilty by reason of insanity.

June 3, 2016

Common Myths About the Police

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Many people will have to interact with a law enforcement officer at some point in their lives, but unfortunately a lot of commonly-held beliefs regarding police policies and procedures and the laws surrounding them are based on entertainment media rather than any sort of actual facts. The following are some examples of instances where people’s incorrect beliefs about the police can potentially hurt them.

Myth: A case against a person will be dismissed if the police do not read them the Miranda warning during their arrest.

While this idea has been popularized through many television police dramas, it is not actually correct. The Miranda warning was put into effect for the purpose of helping people protect their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. However, the requirement is only valid after a person has been placed under arrest when law enforcement officers intend to question them. Statements that are made before then are admissible at trial regardless of whether the Miranda warning has been read.

May 27, 2016

The Miranda Warning

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.” The Miranda warning, or Miranda rights, are probably familiar to anyone who has watched police dramas or true crime shows on television, but the practical aspects of them are often misunderstood.

History

People in the United States have the rights under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and under the Sixth Amendment to an attorney when they are being accused of a crime by law enforcement. The Miranda warning developed out of a Supreme Court holding in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) which set out that in order for a statement made to law enforcement officers to be admissible in court the accused needs to be made explicitly aware of these two rights. The Miranda warning statement thus serves two purposes. First, it defends the accused by notifying them of their rights, and second it ensures that any statements that the accused makes to the police will be admissible in court.

May 27, 2016

The Code of Silence Within the Police Force Promotes Mistrust Within the Community

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

That old saying that “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” is what may be happening in the communities where mistrust of the police is so prevalent. When you have a single police officer, or several officers committing misdeeds, including murder, against members of the communities they are sworn to “serve and protect,” and those deeds go unchecked by fellow officers or the precinct watch commanders who are responsible for controlling and reigning in the bad conduct of their officers in the field, the communities will equate those misdeeds to the entire force. This is human nature, and to be expected. It is up to the police precincts to foster and maintain a more cooperative relationship with their communities. In order to do this, they must bring those officers responsible for criminal activities within those neighborhoods, to justice. It is inexcusable to make any attempt to justify criminal activity committed by law enforcement, and to expect the communities to support those same law enforcement officers. A “code of silence” has no place in law enforcement.

Chicago Police Department and its Code of Silence

A “code of silence” amongst law enforcement officers will go a long way in perpetuating acts of misconduct and the cover-up of police officer misdeeds and actual police criminal conduct within certain precincts. This unwritten code prevents a police officer from “snitching” on another police officer if he is aware that, that officer has engaged in some form of misconduct. Fear of retaliation and intimidation for providing evidence of police misconduct has no place in law enforcement. If such conduct is allowed within the ranks of our police officers, you will see a total breakdown between law enforcement and the communities.