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Bond-Hearing-200x300Over the weekend I read an article about a 60 minutes episode about Cook County Jail and Sheriff Tom Dart.  Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is in charge of running Cook County Jail, the largest single-site jail in the United States.  After I finished reading the article, I was struck by some of the information contained in the article and wanted to pass along some of the things that I learned.  We are used to seeing news stories about inmates who are released from prison after spending years behind bars for a crime they did not commit.  We become conditioned to believe that this is all that is wrong with our criminal justice system. But this article about Cook County jail is much more disturbing because it represents a systematic injustice, legal and moral, with our criminal justice system.

The current jail population at Cook County Jail is approximately 7,500 prisoners a day. Roughly 70,000 inmates a year pass through Cook County Jail. A very large portion of the inmates who enter Cook County Jail stay there because they are unable to come up with the bond money needed to be released from jail. Many times, the amount of money needed for them to get out of jail is very small. It could be as little as $100, but because they don’t have the money to post the bond, they cannot get out of jail. The overwhelming majority of the inmates who have a low bond pose little or no danger to society. They are there because they were caught with a small amount of drugs or because they tried to steal something from a store. Meanwhile the people that pose a danger to society, like gang members who are caught with illegal guns, are able to post bond because their gang puts up the money and they are out on the street.

A troubling statistic from this article is that last year, 1,024 inmates spent their entire prison term in Cook County Jail. While that is troubling, in and of itself, the following statistic is shocking. An equal number of inmates spent an extra 222 years in custody in Cook County Jail. It would be understandable if this was because the inmates were violent or posed a danger to society. But keep in mind that a large percentage of the inmates in Cook County Jail are there because they cannot afford to post low bonds. If somebody has a low bond it is probably because what they are being charged with is a minor offense and they have little or no criminal background. This is a very troubling statistic.

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Violation-of-an-Order-of-ProtectionThe main difference between a Civil Order of Protection and a Criminal Order of Protection has to do with how the person who is seeking the Order of Protection goes about getting the Order of Protection entered, or issued.  An Order of Protection is a court order which bars someone from having at least some contact with another person.  The typical Order of Protection forbids a person from being anywhere near another person or forbids them from being at a certain location or attempting to make any contact whatsoever with the other person.  It’s really the only way that the legal system can offer protection from bodily harm from another person.  It’s a piece of paper that has no power in and of itself to prevent anything from happening.  The only thing that the Order of Protection does is allow the police to arrest someone if they are found to be in Violation of the Order of Protection.

Let’s first talk about a Civil Order of Protection. The process for obtaining a Civil Order of Protection is usually started by the person who is seeking to be protected themselves.  They file a Petition with the court requesting that a Civil Order of Protection be entered.  The initial order can be entered without the person against whom the Order of Protection is sought to be entered without even having been served with the petition.  When the Court is presented with the Petition, the court will review it to see if there’s a basis for an order being entered.  The Court may question the person seeking the Order of Protection, known as the Petitioner, and if the Court is satisfied that there’s good cause for the entry of an Order of Protection, the Court will enter an Emergency Order of Protection that will only be good for 14 days.  The Court will set a Court date and the Petitioner will have to serve the Respondent, the person who the Petitioner is seeking to be protected from, with a copy of the Emergency Order of Protection.  At the next Court date a hearing will be held for the judge to determine whether a permanent Order of Protection should be entered.

Now let’s talk about a Criminal Order of Protection.  A Criminal Order of Protection arises out of a criminal case.  The party asking for the entry of an Order of Protection is usually the prosecutor in the criminal case.  Most Criminal Orders of Protection arise out of a Domestic Battery case.  But I have seen them in Stalking and Harassment cases.  What typically happens is that at the first court date, usually the Bond Hearing, the prosecutor will ask the judge to enter a Temporary Order of Protection forbidding the defendant from being anywhere near the victim and from having any contact with the victim.

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Domestic-BatteryLast week I had a trial for a Domestic Battery at the Bridgeview Courthouse in Cook County. My client had no criminal record whatsoever. He had been charged with committing a Domestic Battery on an ex-girlfriend (victim) during a consensual sexual encounter. The facts of the case were very strange. At no time did I think that my client was guilty of the Domestic Battery. As a matter of fact, I tried to alert the prosecutor to the weakness of their case and tried to get them to drop the case rather than force their witness to take the stand and be exposed to a potentially damaging cross examination.  Let me tell you about the facts of the case and how easy it is to get caught up in something that you had no idea could possibly become a criminal matter.

Last year, my client met the victim on Tinder. Tinder is a social media site that people frequently use to “hook up”. My client dated the victim for about 2 months. They both agreed to end the relationship but continued seeing each other, on and off, to have sex for several months after they broke up. The day of the alleged crime, the victim contacted my client to set up another consensual sexual encounter. My client, and the victim, agreed that the victim would come over to my client’s condo after work. When my client came home from work, he left the door to his condo unlocked and went to the bathroom. The victim arrived and walked into the condo. After a short while, the victim and my client sat on the couch to watch TV. They started kissing and then had sex on the couch for a few minutes. The victim terminated the sex and proceeded to cuddle with my client for several minutes. The victim decided to go home, so she got up from the couch and grabbed her clothes. As the victim was gathering her clothes, my client grabbed her from behind so that he could take her into the bedroom because he wanted to continue with the sex. The victim struggled to get loose from my client and told him that she wanted to go home. She laughed at him and made a humorous comment.  She tried to gather her clothes again and my client grabbed her once more from behind and a short struggle ensued. Once again, the victim told my client that she didn’t want to have any more sex with him and wanted to go home. At that point, my client complied and went back to the couch. The victim gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. She testified that she locked the door to the bathroom and put her clothes on. She also testified that while she was in the bathroom my client was not banging on the door nor was he yelling at her. Yet, she testified that she feared him and was frantic to get dressed so she could go home. She testified that after she exited the bathroom she went back to the living room, where the couch was, and saw my client laying on the couch. She asked him if he wanted his clothes and my client said that he did not want to get dressed. The complaining witness went into the kitchen and retrieved a beverage that she had brought with her to the condo and exited the condo. She testified that she ran down the stairs and quickly entered her car.

The victim testified that when she entered her vehicle she immediately placed a call to her Therapist. She could not get a hold of her Therapist so she left a voicemail. At some point, before she got home, she testified that she spoke to her Therapist on the telephone. She then drove home and spoke to her mother. She also spoke to her neighbor, a former police officer. She testified that she told both of them what happened. After she finished speaking to everyone she decided to go to the police and report that she had been the victim of a Domestic Battery. The complaining witness gave the reporting officer a detailed description of the events that happened at my client’s condominium that night.

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Preliminary-HearingMany of the people that I have represented in my 27 years of being a criminal defense lawyer have no criminal record and have little, or no experience, with the criminal justice system. For many people, the thought of facing criminal charges can be a daunting and scary experience. In addition to providing legal services in court, one of my main responsibilities as a criminal defense lawyer is to explain the legal process to my clients and to make sure they fully understand what is happening, and what will be happening in the future.

If you are being charged with a misdemeanor offense, a bond will be set at the police station by the police department. Depending on what you are being charged with, and your criminal record, the Bond could be anywhere from an I-Bond, or a minor cash Bond. An I-Bond is commonly known as a Signature Bond.  With an I-Bond, no money needs to be posted. You just sign the Bond paper promising to appear in court and to not commit any criminal offenses. An exception to this is if you are charged with a Domestic Battery.  You may be taken to court for a bond hearing if you are charged with a Domestic Battery, especially if the State will be seeking an Order of Protection or wants the Court to set special conditions of Bond which forbids you from making contact with the Complaining Witness. But if you are charged with a felony, you will be brought to court as soon as possible for a Bond Hearing and the judge will set a Bond. The first court date after your Bond Hearing will be a Preliminary Hearing date. I want to take this opportunity to explain what a Preliminary Hearing is and what will happen at the Preliminary Hearing.

Basically, a Preliminary Hearing is a short hearing before trial, before a judge, to determine whether probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed and that you are the one that committed that crime. Probable cause, for Preliminary Hearing purposes, is different than what people commonly consider probable cause to be. For Preliminary Hearing purposes, probable cause simply means that the judge is convinced by a preponderance of the evidence, more probably true than not true, that there’s enough evidence to charge you with a crime and eventually put you on trial for that crime.

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DUIIllinois has some very strict laws, rules, and regulations involving DUI’s. I frequently get questions from clients asking about whether they should or should not take a breathalyzer when they are requested to by a police officer.  There is no simple yes or no answer to that question. Whether someone who has been stopped for a DUI should submit to a breathalyzer test or not is a very complicated question that depends on each case and the specific facts surrounding each case.  All I can do is explain what the legal consequences of a refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test would be and what could happen if you take a breathalyzer test and you fail that test.

Let’s talk about what a breathalyzer test is.  The only way to test how much alcohol is in somebody’s blood is with a blood test.  A breathalyzer test measures the amount of alcohol in your breath.  That reading gives a very accurate estimate of how much alcohol is in your blood.  A breathalyzer test is performed by blowing into a machine which registers a reading.  The results from that machine have been accepted in court as reliable and admissible evidence in DUI cases throughout Illinois.

Under Illinois Law, driving is a privilege not a right.  Therefore, when you are given a driver’s license in Illinois you give the police the implied consent to ask you to submit to a breathalyzer test when you are requested to do so by a police officer.  You can refuse to submit to a breathalyzer test when requested to take one but the consequences are very severe.  Under Illinois law, if you refuse to submit to a breathalyzer test your license will be suspended for one year.  If you are taken to a hospital the police can force the hospital to draw your blood to measure the amount of alcohol in your blood.  That’s part of the implied consent that the law implies that you gave the police when you were issued a driver’s license in Illinois.

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Municipal-ViolationJust like State laws create State crimes, and Federal laws create Federal crimes, individual towns, cities and villages also create laws, called Municipal Ordinances, which can give rise to charges alleging a violation of a Municipal Ordinance.  I’ve been handling criminal cases for the past 27 years throughout Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, and Lake County. I’ve noticed a dramatic rise in the number of Municipal Ordinance Violation cases throughout all of these counties. Many cities, towns and villages have established their own Municipal Violation Ordinance Courts which mainly impose monetary civil penalties upon violators that have become big sources of revenue for these municipalities.  I’m seeing more and more cases being charged as Municipal Ordinance Violations rather than criminal cases in Circuit Court. This is especially true in Chicago, DuPage County, Kane County, and Lake County. I see the number of Municipal Ordinanve Violation cases increasing in the future

The rise in the number of Municipal Ordinance Violation cases has led to more and more clients calling me and asking me to explain what a Municipal Ordinance Violation is and what will happen when they appear in Court. Perhaps the most common question I get from clients is whether they need to hire a lawyer to handle their Municipal Violation Case.  My advice is that you should have a lawyer representing you for a Municipal Violation Case.  There’s several reasons for that so let me explain to you why you should have a lawyer with you for your Municipal Ordinance Violation case.

The consequences of being found guilty, or liable, for a Municipal Ordinance Violation are much less severe than the criminal penalties for a misdemeanor or a felony under state law.  Typically, the consequences for a Municipal Violation involve paying a civil penalty, or a fine.  A Municipal Ordinance Violation is generally not considered a criminal case.  However, some of the conduct that could give rise to a Municipal Ordinance Violation charge can also be enough to charge you with a misdemeanor.  For instance, if you shoplift from a store, the police can charge you with a Retail Theft misdemeanor.  The police can also charge you with a Retail Theft under the Municipal Ordinance of the town in which the shoplifting occurred.  This is a choice that’s made by the police officer or the prosecutor.  So, if you try to shoplift and you receive a Municipal Ordinance violation ticket, instead of going to the Circuit Court for your case, you will have to go to the Village City Hall for a hearing before a Hearing Officer. Some towns hold their Municipal Ordinance Violation hearings at the local courthouse

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UUW

Today, the Chicago Tribune re-published a story that indicates that law enforcement authorities in Chicago may be losing the fight against gun crimes. Everyone is aware of the ridiculous number of gun related crimes in the city of Chicago. It is the subject of national news stories and was the subject of a recent movie by Spike Lee which places the spotlight on the out of control gun violence in the City of Chicago. The gun violence in Chicago entered the discussion in last year’s Presidential campaign.  Recently, President Trump has threatened to send in the National Guard to deal with the gun violence in Chicago.  Law enforcement authorities and the politicians in Chicago have made fighting the out-of-control gun violence the focus of their collective efforts.  However, the Chicago Tribune today re-published a story which should cause the citizens of Chicago to be seriously concerned about whether the authorities are fighting an effective fight against gun violence.

The Tribune reports that since 2012 the average bond set for a felony gun crime has doubled. In 2012, the average bond for a felony gun case was $25,000. In 2016 the average bond for a felony gun case was $50,000. The Tribune reports that this has done nothing to keep gang members off the streets.  The number of defendants posting bond has more than doubled from four years ago.  Therefore, in spite of the bonds for felony gun crimes doubling, four times as many defendants are getting out of jail on bond than they did four years ago.  In 2012, the average number of days that a defendant charged with a felony gun crime spent in jail before posting bond was 42 days.  In 2016 that number had dropped to 18 days.  Fewer and fewer guns are being recovered by the Chicago Police.  From 2012 until the end of last year, 9% fewer guns have been recovered.

Recently, Cook County authorities have been looking closely at reforming the Bond system in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  Too many Defendants charged with minor non-violent crimes our spending too much time in Cook County Jail simply because they are unable to afford to post the bond. This is adding strain to the Cook County budget which is already in facing increasing economic pressure.  Cook County authorities are trying to come up with a way to reserve precious jail resources for criminal defendants who are identified as posing a danger to the community.

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UUWThis question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no answer. Unfortunately, the Illinois Unlawful Use of a Weapon (UUW) statute is a little complicated and requires an explanation. Another question I frequently get asked is:  How do I legally transport a handgun in Illinois?  Here it goes.

To be able to legally own a firearm in Illinois, you must obtain a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, which is referred to as an FOID card.  To obtain an FOID card, you must fill out an application with the Illinois State Police, pay a small application fee, provide a current color picture of yourself and wait for the Illinois State Police to conduct a very thorough background search.  If they approve your application, they will mail you a card which has an expiration date on it.  The FOID card allows you to legally own a firearm in your residence in Illinois.  Until 2013, it was illegal to carry a loaded gun in public anywhere in Illinois.  In 2012, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Illinois was violating the Second Amendment to the Constitution by not providing a mechanism by which citizens of the state would be allowed to carry a concealed firearm in public.  Later in the same year, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed with the Federal Court of Appeals and ruled that the Illinois Unlawful Use of a Weapon Statute was unconstitutional because it did not provide a way for citizens of Illinois to lawfully carry a loaded gun in public.  The following year, the Illinois Legislature enacted a Conceal and Carry statute which provided for a way for citizens of Illinois to lawfully carry a loaded concealed firearm in public.  Illinois became the last state in the country to provide for conceal and carry.

To obtain a Conceal and Carry permit in Illinois, an application has to be submitted to the Illinois State Police.  You are required to take gun safety classes and undergo a very thorough background search. The Conceal and Carry permit is only good for 5 years.  So, since 2013, if you have a valid Conceal and Carry permit you can carry a loaded firearm in public as long as the location that you are at does not specifically prohibit the carrying of loaded firearms.  If you only have an FOID card, you cannot legally carry a loaded firearm in public.

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Domestic-Battery-1The short answer to this question is maybe. But whether you would be convicted of a Domestic Battery for simply slapping your child is a different question.  This issue is a little complex so let me take a little time to explain what’s involved with this question.

You could be charged with a Domestic Battery in Illinois if you intentionally or knowingly make physical contact with another person that causes bodily harm or is of an insulting or provoking nature.  What makes slapping your child a “Domestic” Battery is that the victim is a family member.  Slapping a child clearly fits the statutory definition of a Domestic Battery. But the rules are applied differently when the physical contact involves the discipline of your child.

In 2002, the Illinois Court of Appeals considered this question and issued a decision which carves out an exception when the contact with the family member involves disciplining a child.  The case is People v. Roberts, 351 Ill.App. 3d 684 (2002). The case involved an incident that began with an argument between a daughter and her mother.  The father arrived home to find the two in the midst of a heated argument.  The argument escalated and the father became involved in the dispute by grabbing the 16-year-old daughter by the hair which resulted in an injury to her eye.  The police charged the father with a Domestic Battery because they claim that what he did, grabbing her by the hair, was without legal justification and fell under the elements of the Illinois Domestic Battery statute.  The case proceeded to trial.  At the jury instruction conference the lawyer for the defendant father requested that the court include a jury instruction instructing the jury that the defendant father could be legally justified in using reasonable force to discipline his child. The court denied the request because the Illinois Domestic Battery statute does not specifically allow for this defense.  The defendant father was ultimately found guilty of Domestic Battery by the jury and appealed the conviction by claiming that the trial court made a mistake by not including this instruction in the jury instructions.  The Court of Appeals overruled the trial court and threw out the Domestic Battery conviction because it found that the trial court should have included the instruction letting the jury know that “a parent is legally justified in using reasonable force when necessary as part of reasonable discipline of a child.” The court agreed that the statute does not specifically allow for this but applied the common law and established this defense to a Domestic Battery charge in Illinois involving the discipline of a child.

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DUI

Being arrested for a DUI can be a very confusing and stressful experience for most people.  Based on my over-27 years of experience in handling DUI cases throughout Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County Kane County, and Lake County, I can tell you that most of the people that I have represented for a DUI are not criminals, nor are they bad people.  Most of the people that I have represented for a DUI are hard-working citizens who have no criminal record.  Some of them have never even received a traffic ticket.  They simply made a mistake and were at the wrong place at the wrong time when they were caught driving when they had too much to drink.  As a result, most of the people calling me wanting to discuss their DUI have lots of questions and want some guidance on what they need to do and what is about to happen to them.  I want to take this opportunity to explain the process and what to expect.

If a police officer takes you down to the police station and asks you to take a breathalyzer test you have the right to refuse to take a breathalyzer test.  But if you refuse to take a breathalyzer test, you will be facing a mandatory 12-month suspension of your driver’s license.  If you agree to take a breathalyzer test then you must listen very carefully to the instructions given to you by the police officer.  If you fail to properly blow into the machine, that failure will be considered a refusal to take a breathalyzer test which will result in the 12-month suspension.  It’s not enough to argue you tried to follow the police officer’s instructions the best you could but failed to provide an adequate breath sample.  It is your responsibility to listen to the instructions and provide the adequate breath sample.

If you take a breathalyzer test and the test indicates that the blood alcohol level in your system was .08 or above, you will be facing a six-month suspension of your driver’s license.  The suspension of your driver’s license will begin 46 days after the arrest.  Until then you can legally drive your car.

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