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Recent Blog Posts
Criminal Defense Strategies
Perhaps you have heard the saying that “ignorance of the law is not a defense.” While that may be true, there are a number of legally sound strategies a competent and practiced criminal defense attorney might use to aid clients who may or may not have a full understanding of the law. If one feels justified in having committed a certain act, it is important to have an experienced legal professional implement a strong and legal defense strategy on their behalf.
Presenting Your Defense
Although this list is not considered final or complete, it does represent some common defense strategies frequently employed every day on the behalf of criminal defendants:
- Necessity – This strategy is employed when a defendant wishes to plea that the act for which they are being tried was committed due to extraordinary circumstances. Commonly accepted criteria include averting a greater evil or lack of any other legal recourse.
- Duress – This defense is used when the accused claims any illegal act which they have committed was done so under threat of death or great bodily harm by another individual.
The Price You May Pay for Letting a Friend Drive Drunk
After enjoying a few drinks at Happy Hour, three adult friends got into one’s car. Can you fill in the rest of the story? In the best case scenario, they had been drinking responsibly, the driver was not impaired, and all got home safely.
But what if their driver had had one or two drinks too many? Whose responsibility was it to make sure that driver was not impaired? Obviously, if you feel impaired, you should not get behind the wheel. But what is your responsibility as a passenger or bystander if someone is driving under the influence ?
Adult Passengers Have No Legal Responsibility for Others’ DUI
Under Illinois law, you have no legal responsibility to stop another adult (over age 21, that is) from driving their own vehicle while intoxicated, unless you were involved in selling them the alcohol which caused them to become impaired. So, if you suspect a driver is legally intoxicated, you commit no crime if you let them drive away or if you ride along as a passenger in their car. Even if they end up arrested for DUI, you will not be charged with a crime, as long as you were just a law-abiding passenger.
If I Am Arrested for DUI - Can the Police Take My Car
When a driver is arrested for DUI, their vehicle-for obvious safety reasons-must be moved from the roadside where the traffic stop took place. Illinois police have four options for dealing with a DUI-involved vehicle, ranging from releasing the vehicle immediately to seizing it and selling it.
Best Case Scenario: Sober Passenger Drives
If the drunk driver had a sober passenger in the vehicle, the police may allow that person to drive the car, saving the driver from towing and administrative fees.
Police Call Local Towing Company; Immediate Retrieval Possible
Most commonly, the police will have the vehicle towed to a local impound lot. The owner of the car will have to pay towing and storage fees to the towing company, and possibly an additional administrative fee to the city or county where the DUI arrest took place. In Chicago, the administrative fee to release a DUI-involved car from impound starts at $2,000. In the Will County suburbs, the administrative fee for a DUI impoundment ranges from $300 to $500.
Kidnapping Your Own Child – Yes, You Can Be Charged
An incident of kidnapping frequently conjures thoughts of ransom notes or phone calls from an individual using some device to disguise their voice. However, more and more cases of kidnapping involve disputes between parents that result in Amber Alerts and loss of visitation privileges or worse.
Parental Kidnapping
In many cases involving divorce and child custody arrangements, emotions run high, and one party or the other may feel that they received less than fair consideration when it comes to the custody or visitation rights of their children. However, parental kidnapping is not something that is limited to the non-custodial parent.
While there are cases in which a non-custodial parent may attempt to flee the state with their child, even the parent who is awarded primary custody may be charged with parental kidnapping if they deprive the other parent of lawful access and visitation. No matter the situation, consulting with an attorney is a far better alternative than attempting to take the law into one’s own hands.
Arrests Made in Chicago Synthetic Marijuana Case
There is little question that the public’s attitude toward the use of marijuana has begun to shift substantially in recent years. Many states, including Illinois, now have a medical cannabis program, and several states have gone so far as to legalize recreational marijuana use. While the long-term effects of smoking marijuana may be similar to those associated with smoking tobacco, federal safety officials have yet to find a single recorded instance of a marijuana overdose death.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of “synthetic marijuana,” which has recently been linked to at least two deaths and many other cases of serious internal bleeding in the Chicago area. This week, federal drug enforcement officials say they traced the source of the product to a convenience store on Chicago’s west side and that three men have been arrested in connection with distributing the substance.
Fentanyl Increasingly Found in Heroin
The use of opioid medication and synthetic opioid drugs has become more and more problematic throughout the last few years. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 11.5 million people misused opioids in 2016 alone. Over 64,000 people died of overdosing on these powerful drugs during the same year. Often, people become addicted to opioids after being prescribed pain management pills such as Vicodin or codeine. When these pills run out, some turn to heroin to get the pain-relieving fix they crave. Heroin is often combined with the much more powerful synthetic drug fentanyl in order to increase its effectiveness. Many drug users do not realize the fentanyl content in their heroin. Unfortunately, heroin and synthetic opioid overdose deaths are rising dramatically.
Toxicology Report for Prince Showed Exceptionally High Levels of Fentanyl
Legendary entertainer Prince died in April of 2016 at his Minnesota home. Representatives for the singer had been working to get addiction help for the 57 year-old, but it seems that the help came too late. Overdose was always assumed to be the cause of Prince’s death, but we now have much more information about what specifically killed him. The most recent information comes from a toxicology report which was conducted as part of an autopsy. The report shows that Prince had exceedingly high levels of fentanyl in his body when he died. It has been concluded that this is what killed him.
What Happens if You Refuse a DUI Breathalyzer Test?
Even if you have never participated in one, most people are familiar with breathalyzer tests. When a person is stopped by police on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), officers will ask him or her to blow into a portable breath device which measures the amount of alcohol on a person’s breath. This information can be used to calculate the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream. If the driver is found to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more, he or she will be charged with a DUI. But what happens if a person refuses to blow into a portable breathalyzer prior to the arrest and or refuses to take the breathalyzer at the police station, after the arrest?
Refusing the Portable Breath Test
You are allowed to refuse the portable breath test given by police prior to an arrest. The law in Illinois, however, is designed in such a way that it encourages people NOT to refuse breathalyzers or other chemical BAC tests. If you refuse the portable breath test during the officer’s investigation of DUI, there is a high probability that the officer will arrest and charge you with a DUI. If you have had several drinks though, it is generally a good idea to refuse the portable breath test as you might be over the legal limit. In addition, portable breath tests are historically unreliable, and you might get a false reading from the machine, thereby sealing your arrest anyway by the officer.
Adult Responsibility for Liquor Use by Minors
As the weather warms up, the planning begins for proms, graduation parties, and summer get-togethers. Both parents and children should be sure that they do not wreck their summer by getting in trouble for breaking laws related to liquor use by minors. While underage drinkers themselves are subject to legal penalties, adults can face penalties if they allow or enable alcohol consumption by minors. Here is a quick refresher course for adults.
1. Parents Are Responsible for Underage Drinking By Their Children’s Guests
In the state of Illinois, a parent or legal guardian can be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and fined a minimum of $500 if they knowingly permit under-age-21 invitees of their child or ward to consume alcohol:
- In their residence.
- On any private property under their control, including rented property such as a vacation cottage where they are the tenant or lessee.
Cook County Referendum Shows Many Residents Support Legalizing Marijuana
The nation’s opinion about marijuana has changed dramatically in the last few decades. Once considered only a reactional drug, the medicinal benefits of cannabis are now being utilized by thousands of individuals across the country. Thirty states, including Illinois, have embraced looser marijuana laws of some kind while eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana entirely. According to a recent Cook County referendum, there may be many Illinois residents who would support Illinois becoming the next state to allow the use of recreational marijuana.
Polls Show Many Illinois Residents Support Recreational Marijuana Use
In the referendum, 68 percent of voters indicated that they were in favor of “the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products for recreational use by adults 21 and older.” The referendum was only advisory and will not change any existing drug laws in Illinois, but advocates of recreational marijuana claim that this referendum proves that Illinois residents are ready for legalization.
Can I Be Convicted of Drunk Driving with Blood Alcohol Under .08%?
Can you be convicted of drunk driving with a blood-alcohol content (BAC) below .08%? The short answer is, YES, if your blood-alcohol content (BAC) is above .05% AND the police can show evidence that you were driving impaired. In other words, the real crime is not your blood-alcohol level. The crime is driving while impaired.
Driving Can Be Impaired When BAC Exceeds .05 BAC
In Illinois and every other state, drivers are automatically judged “impaired” when their BAC is .08% or higher. But, in fact, alcohol affects your coordination and judgment from the first drink. According to the Illinois DUI Fact Book, your risk of being in a crash increases significantly when your BAC exceeds .05%. The latest report sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, released in January 2018, recommends lowering the legal limit to .05% BAC.
