Murder

August 16, 2023

Chicago Man Charged With Murder of 9-Year-Old Girl

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

A Chicago man has been charged with the grisly murder of a 9-year-old girl. He appeared in court just recently for a bond hearing, during which he was denied bond. His public defender had argued for a reasonable bond based on the fact that the defendant had no criminal history. However, the Chicago courts, considering the severity of the crime with which he is charged, elected to deny him bond. The defendant was still recovering from a shooting himself. He was shot in the left side of his face as police attempted to apprehend him.

Police do not yet have a motive for the shooting. The defendant was a neighbor of the victim. According to the police report, the victim was standing near an ice cream truck when a shot rang out. The victim’s father told her to go back inside their home, where she would be safe. That is when the shooter exited his house armed with a handgun, approached the 9-year-old who was with her father and shot her in the head with a handgun. When the father saw that the defendant was shooting at his daughter, he tried to stop him. During the altercation, the defendant was shot in the face with his own gun.

Mental Health Defense

August 11, 2023

Tinley Park Police Officers Arrest Man Suspected of Grisly Murder

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

Police surrounded the home of a Tinley Park man who was suspected of slaying a woman. The man had barricaded himself in his home and was surrounded by SWAT for hours before the arrest was made. Local residents were told to shelter in their homes while the standoff continued. The suspect has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

While the investigation remains ongoing, the police believe that the man killed a 30-year-old woman. He was apprehended by police after a domestic call. Police found the victim’s body near where the domestic call had been called in. According to police, the man stabbed the woman several times. He had lacerations on his own face as well, likely defensive wounds.

Suspect Has a Lengthy Criminal History

June 30, 2023

Charges Dropped Against Mother and Son After Shooting

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

Charges have been dropped against a mother and her son in the shooting death of a man at a restaurant. Surveillance footage shows the man punching the woman before the woman’s son pulled her gun and shot him. The woman had a concealed carry license and was a FOID card holder at the time of the shooting. The mother and son had been charged with first-degree murder, and the mother was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. However, when footage emerged that the man was the aggressor, Cook County prosecutors decided to drop all the charges against them.

What Happened?

The mother was in line ordering food at a restaurant when she was approached by the victim. An argument ensues between the victim and the mother, and the victim throws a punch at the mother. The son, who had the gun on his person, pulls it from a front hoodie pocket and shoots the victim after he threw the punch at his mother.

May 26, 2023

Chicago Couple Accused of Murdering Man They Met at a Bar

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

Passing drivers saw a man lying on the side of the road naked from the waist down. They alerted authorities, who tracked the man’s movements to an area bar. From there, they enticed the man into their van, where he was beaten and strangled. His body was dumped on the side of the road, and now both are facing first-degree murder charges.

It is fair to ask whether or not both defendants can be charged with the murder. It may end up being that one of them is charged with first-degree murder for the strangulation and physical assault that led to death while the other is charged with felony murder. This would divide itself along the vector of man and woman. The woman would likely be charged with conspiracy to commit murder, while the husband would be charged with perpetrating the physical death.

At this point, we know little about the details other than what has been reported in the press. However, it is still possible that a first-degree murder charge against the wife will happen. If it does, the couple is unlikely to ever see one another again in person. They will be separated in prison.

May 5, 2023

Man Charged With Murder After Killing Quadriplegic Father

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

A Chicago man has recently been charged with his father’s murder, according to a recent news report. The suspect allegedly both strangled and stabbed his father to death. The cause is unclear, but prosecutors believe the man was on drugs at the time of the murder. An uncle, who was tasked with being the father’s caretaker, reported that the son appeared to be out of his mind. He continually apologized to his father as he was killing him. A grandmother who also lived in the same building called the police. The suspect was taken into custody and has since been charged with first-degree murder.

Analyzing the Mental Health Defense

Insanity defenses are tricky for a number of reasons and seldom work. The reason they do not work is that “insane” people, or those who are fighting mental health issues, can do things for good or bad reasons. For example, an insane person can believe that their father is blocking them from accessing untold riches that do not really exist. They’re insane, but their motive for committing murder is purely selfish. On the other hand, an insane person can believe that their father is possessed by a demon, already dead and that they are doing a good thing for the world by killing the father. Not only are they insane, but their delusion leaves them believing that they are doing something good when they are actually causing a great deal of unnecessary harm.

April 28, 2023

Teens Face Misdemeanor Charges After Death of Infant

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

Chicago area teens are facing misdemeanor charges following the theft of a car and a crash that left a 6-month-old baby dead. Now, with the news floating about the cultural ether, it is part of the feedback loop of fear and vigilance that has Americans panic-shooting one another just because someone wants to do a U-turn in their driveway.

While some may believe that the problem is journalism, it actually goes much deeper than that. Reporters are only responding to market signals, and if you do not sell fear, then you run the risk of losing attention. So, you get an endless barrage of fear-journalism that (by design) makes your world unsafe.

What Happened?

March 28, 2023

18-Year-Old Charged in Murder of Police Officer

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

A Chicago man charged with shooting and killing a Chicago police officer is being held without bond. The man is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, among other things. He did not have a criminal history, according to police, but his reputation for gangsterism preceded him. The young man was suspected of running from a stolen car after a shooting. In that case, police had sought felony charges, but prosecutors only approved misdemeanor charges based on his age and arrest record. In the shooter’s case, the charges were eventually dropped after he completed 20 hours of community service. His age and lack of criminal record were cited as reasons to be lenient.

Now, the prosecutor’s office is in big trouble after the boy shot and killed a police officer. Today, law enforcement is caught between two pressures. The first is ensuring that young individuals have a chance to rehabilitate themselves. The second is ensuring the safety of the public and police officers. Every time something like this happens, the pendulum swings back toward less leniency.

Analyzing the Enforcement Issues

March 17, 2023

Tyre Nichols’s Death Prompts Investigations

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

More than a dozen police and firefighters from the Memphis, TN, police department are under investigation after the death of a 29-year-old man. It is not entirely clear what happened, but Nichols attempted to break away from the police officers, and they simply beat him to death. Ultimately, it sounded like the man had a panic attack, and the police killed him because he was not following instructions. The incident has resulted in second-degree murder charges filed against the officers, and now, several more are under investigation for the cover-up that occurred afterward.

We say a “few bad apples” without actually completing the thought. A few bad apples literally spoil the bunch. In this case, maybe one or two guys initiate violence against an unarmed man, killing him, but they’re so void of emotional control that they do not realize it was bad until after the man is on his way to the grave. They have left bodycam footage and evidence trail a mile wide. But they are not dead yet. They still control the information. So, they beg other officers to intervene on their behalf, and now those guys are out of a job, facing criminal charges, and will never work in law enforcement again.

The law makes it clear that you are an accessory after the fact (to murder) by engaging in the cover-up. Now, none of these officers were charged as accessories, but once a defense attorney catches wind that a government official has committed official misconduct, that parcel of information will make it into every case in which they are involved. Prosecutors will not be able to use their testimony in court. They are functionally useless to the law.

March 15, 2023

Michigan Prosecutors Advance Charges Against Parents of School Shooter

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

Michigan prosecutors are attempting to advance charges against the parents of a school shooter, claiming that the parents “should have known” that the boy had psychological problems due to his fascination with guns and disturbing drawings.

The idea that we all have the same set of values regarding weapons and horror art is not a smart position to take. Ultimately, the prosecutors need to convince a jury that parents would ultimately consider it within the realm of possibility that their child would commit a mass shooting. Parents rarely ever consider this. We will never know how many mass shootings were stopped by parental intervention, but it happens frequently enough to know that these parents are just as blindsided as the rest of society when their child commits an atrocity.

These parents are not getting a sick sense of satisfaction over the knowledge that their child is going to prison forever. They are devastated and their lives are ruined.

March 10, 2023

Officer Facing Charges After Punching 17-Year-Old Boy

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

One officer is facing charges after several officers allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old boy during an arrest. Essentially, one officer was caught punching the boy repeatedly while the boy was on the ground, and the other officers were caught standing nearby and watching. While the officer who threw the punch is facing charges of aggravated assault and official misconduct, the officers who stood by and watched are not. Nor are they facing disciplinary action.

It is not clear that the bystander police officers could be held responsible for a crime in this instance. Which then got me thinking, what happened to the other two officers in the George Floyd case? The answer: They went to prison. So, let’s analyze that case (which was filed under Wisconsin law), and maybe we can figure out if these officers could be charged with the same thing.

George Floyd Analysis