Chicago criminal attorney

April 26, 2023

The Fear/Rage Dopamine Loops and Crime Journalism

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

Facebook is being sued in almost every country over concerns that its algorithm harnesses the worst emotions that humanity has to offer and then rewards them for it. This is resulting in reports of genocide in Myanmar, deaths of teenagers, families destroyed by fake news, and a general feeling of hatred toward our fellow Americans. It may not be so much that Americans like this information or like feeling this way, as it is a matter of belief that this information makes them part of a special elect few who have their finger on the pulse of the American heartbeat.

How Does Your Local News Cycle Work?

Essentially, everything you need to know about your news cycle can be gleaned from the movie Nightcrawler. In the movie, an unlikeable protagonist fulfills his dream of becoming a vulture by getting a live feed of newsworthy events. By the end of the movie, he is creating events to film and getting rich off of these created events. While this is unlikely to happen in real life, the fictional space that the movie creates allows us to see how that would work.

March 22, 2023

Teen Charged After Kia Joyride Injures Two Officers

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

A Chicago teen is facing criminal charges after stealing a Kia at gunpoint and taking it on a joyride. The vehicle eventually crashed into a police car and spun out into a parked car. The three teens inside the vehicle took off in different directions, but police were able to apprehend each of them. One of them had a gun. The victim was a 16-year-old girl. The suspect has been charged with armed robbery and criminal trespass to a vehicle. Both officers injured in the crash are expected to make a full recovery.

This particular teen will be charged as an adult. Charging documents have already taken off many of the worst allegations that can be made. The law likes to give 17-year-olds a chance to rehabilitate their lives. Unfortunately, prison is not the place for that. However, when it comes to 17-year-olds who commit violent crimes, most jurisdictions will pursue adult charges.

However, Chicago is once again in a swing toward “tough on crime” politics as news of crime draws criticism from the public.

February 15, 2023

Re-Entry Remains Difficult for Those Serving Sentences

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

Illinois officials have emphasized re-entry services for inmates who have been convicted of serious crimes. But finding steady employment, even for those who earned master’s degrees while inside, remains difficult. Part of the issue is related to their incarceration, but another part of the issue has to do with the fact that employers are not likely to hire someone with a master’s degree for low-level warehouse work. The employer will figure they will get bored with the job and be gone in a few weeks.

Now one former inmate who was convicted of murder says he’s having difficulty finding work despite the fact that he has a master’s degree. It further becomes a problem when the former inmate has no legitimate means of earning money. The chances of that inmate going back to prison escalate exponentially.

What Prevents Former Inmates From Getting Jobs?

February 1, 2023

R. Kelly Charges Dropped Causing Wave of Anger

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

There are a lot of issues at play in this case that have nothing to do with justice or the adjudication of guilt for a crime. Ultimately, these issues may have caused Chicago prosecutors to take their chips off the board and play another game. However, at present, the sex crimes charges against R. Kelly in Chicago have been dropped.

Many people, especially the victims, are angry that the prosecutors initiated the effort to build a case against Kelly and then decided not to pursue it. This has left the four Chicago victims with misgivings over the process of justice.

The state decided that the cost of prosecuting Kelly for these crimes was not worth it. Kelly is serving a 30-year sentence and will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 80. Kelly was convicted on various federal charges, including sex trafficking, enticement of a minor, and production of child pornography. However, he has never been convicted on the four counts of sexual assault he committed against the four Chicago victims.

January 6, 2023

SAFE-T Act Put on Hold Amid Legal Battles

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

The SAFE-T Act was set to go into effect on January 1st of the new year. However, the no-cash bail provision of the bill was deemed unconstitutional by an Illinois judge. The Illinois Supreme Court put a halt on the legislation, which will likely force legislators to revisit some of the provisions of the bill.

While those on the right have derided the legislation as being soft on crime and making the streets less safe, the left believes that the criminal justice system unfairly favors those with money. Ending cash bail is one way to make the system fairer. However, it is not clear that either side is correct, and in all of the confusion, necessary reforms are falling by the wayside.

Had the Supreme Court not stepped in to block the legislation, cash bail would have survived in the counties that sued to block the measure. With some counties participating and others not, the court blocked the legislation until it could review it more carefully and determine if any of the provisions of the law violated the state constitution.

December 28, 2022

911 Call Analysis Used to Convict Man of Murder

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

A recent television series documented a case in the United States revolving around a man accused of murdering his wife. In the criminal case, the prosecution used testimony from an expert witness to claim that the man staged the 911 call and was actually himself the murderer. He was convicted based on the testimony of a sergeant who interpreted the 911 call as being staged. A jury convicted the man on that basis.

The basis for the witness’s testimony is a little-known method of lie detection promulgated by police departments and the FBI. According to these departments, you can tell if a person is lying by interpreting linguistic cues and stress in their voice. Of course, there is little scientific basis for this, and there has been no testing to determine the veracity of these claims. That’s not the problem, however.

In most cases, we would laud anyone who wanted to endeavor to determine if there was any method to determine if someone was lying by studying their vocal cues. That’s not what’s happening here, however. Instead, the police departments are assuming that they can do this without subjecting their procedures to peer review. Even those most familiar with the theory have publicly stated it should not be used to convict individuals. Nonetheless, there have been 100 cases (at least) throughout the U.S. in which 911 call analysis or vocal stress interpretation.

November 30, 2022

Chicago Man Charged With Attacking Cops in January 6th Riot

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

A Chicago man is facing criminal charges for his role in the January 6th protest-turned-riot on Capitol Hill. He is facing federal charges, including assaulting a federal law enforcement officer, destruction of government property, and civil disorder.

Thus far, over 950 have faced charges related to January 6th. Arrestees hail from all 50 states. This individual earned the online handle “RailMixer” after he used a broken piece of metal railing to ram the doors of the Capitol.

The defendant can be seen on video swinging a metal railing or bicycle rack to bring down the doors of the Capitol. He is also seen swinging his arms at police officers. The man won some acclaim from the internet for his conduct that day, and his image was circulated along with the tag “railmixer.” Eventually, these images made their way to the FBI website, where they were requesting information on the January 6th rioters. The FBI began interviewing associates of the eventual defendant, and through an attorney, the defendant reached out to the FBI.

August 26, 2022

Ending Cash Bail: What Does it Mean?

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

While the media may have you believing that ending cash bail means allowing anyone charged with a crime to go free, the matter is not so simple or so haphazardly employed.

Imagine if you are charged with a crime you did not commit based on a witness misidentifying you. You don’t think it can happen to you? Well, it can. Now, if you have money, you just pay your way out of jail and wait for the charges to be dropped because the case is not strong enough. But what if you do not have the money to pay for the bail? You then have a choice. You can either plead guilty to the crime to get the matter settled and be on about your life, or you can fight the charges, stay in jail, and hope the system works the way it is supposed to. Since you have little faith in that happening for you, you end up taking a plea deal to get out of jail. In other words, the poor can be leveraged into plea deals simply to avoid being stuck in jail.

Is that fair? Of course, not. While some folks want to make the rules fairer, others are convinced that society would fall apart if we did not leverage the poor into false confessions based on the deprivation of their freedom.

June 10, 2022

San Francisco Recall Shines a Light on the Perils of Progressive Prosecuting

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

Billionaires and Republican donors are out in full force raising the ire of their constituencies against San Francisco’s elected District Attorney. San Francisco is miles away from Chicago in terms of gun violence, population size, and murders per year, but voters are ready to pull the plug on their District Attorney. Why are progressive prosecutors having such a difficult time even in liberal cities like San Francisco?

For decades, the Americans have been treated to only one position on crime: You are either “tough on crime” or you are not. If you are “tough on crime” then you are one of the good guys. If you are not, then you are aiding and abetting criminals. It is all very simple and appeals to the sort of black and white thinking that people employ when they are fed up with a situation. Do San Francisco residents have due cause to be fed up with their elected prosecutor?

Black and White

May 13, 2022

Judge Grants Request for Psychiatric Records of Key Witness

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

The police have begun to move on a murder that occurred in 1998 after DNA evidence linked two men to the crime scene. The one man agreed to testify against the other and now, the defense team representing the other man has moved to gain access to the witness and co-conspirator’s medical history. The idea is to suggest that the defendant lacked the ability to remember that he committed a murder in 1998 or any of the details concerning that murder. In other words, they want to suggest that the individual is so unreliable, their testimony should not be admissible in court.

The court has agreed to give the defense access to the witness’s medical records. From this, they will be able to build a defense that the witness is either simply saying what the police want to hear in exchange for testimony against the other defendant and his ability to recall details from such a long time ago is compromised by psychiatric illness and intervention.

Is This Tactic Likely to be Successful?