manslaughter

December 25, 2019

Chicago Police Officer Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

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

Cook County judge, William Gamboney, found former Chicago police officer, Lowell Houser guilty of second-degree murder recently. Houser requested a bench trial as some police officers are wont to do when facing serious charges.

The trial stemmed from a 2017 off-duty shooting of Jose Nieves. Houser has been under house arrest since being charged with first-degree murder.

The judge ruled that Nieves may have been aggressive toward Houser, but the man was unarmed at the time of the shooting. He therefore decided that Houser’s actions were unreasonable and that the shooting was unjustified.

May 15, 2019

Parents Charged in Death of 5-Year-Old AJ Freund

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

As evidence mounts against the parents of AJ Freund, the media frenzy around the case casts a shadow over the possibility that the Freunds will get a fair trial. According to police, the boy’s father Drew Freund told police that he “beat” the boy and administered cold showers as punishment. The police also indicated the father led investigators to the boy’s body in a remote location in Woodstock.

Physical evidence against the father continues to pile up. This includes a shovel, soil samples linking the shovel to the burial site, muddy shoes that could link the father to the burial site, and a search he performed on his phone concerning how to perform CPR on a child.

Police Have Begun Trying This Case in the Press

February 6, 2019

Murder Rates in Chicago

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

On January 27, 2019, a man was charged with attempted murder after he shot a Chicago police officer. 32-year-old Swaleh Mohammed was arrested the night of January 26 and has been charged with six felonies. It is alleged that he shot a Chicago police officer in the officer’s protective vest when law enforcement was responding to a domestic dispute in the neighborhood of West Ridge.

Police were called to Swaleh’s home at approximately 6:45 p.m. and found him inside with a gun. He barricaded himself inside and, according to police, appeared to have some type of mental disability. He then shot at police who returned fire, but did not hit the suspect.

One of the responding officers was hit in his vest, but was unharmed. He was taken to the hospital and reported in good health.

April 27, 2016

The Coroner Says Marques Gaines Was Murdered, But by Whom?

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

A series of events led to the death of a Chicago man, Marques Gaines, that is now being called a homicide by the coroner’s office. Gaines and an unidentified man started arguing outside a 7-Eleven Store. The argument escalated, ending up with the unidentified man assaulting Gaines in front of the store and leaving him unconscious in the street.

Several bystanders rifled through Gaines’ pockets and robbed him while he lay unconscious. Other bystanders walked casually over and around the unconscious man but no one attempted to help him. Eventually, a taxi cab driver ran over Gaines. Gaines was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

The question is who is responsible for Gaines’ “murder.” Was it the unidentified man who punched Gaines and left him unconscious in the street? Was it the bystanders who robbed him while he lay unconscious in the street and failed to assist him; or was it the cab driver, who may not have known that Gaines was lying unconscious in the street, but who ended up running over him? Who is ultimately responsible for Gaines’ death, and who will be charged with his murder?