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Recent Blog Posts
I Was Falsely Accused of Domestic Violence. Now What?
There is no question that domestic violence is a real problem in Illinois. Unfortunately, some people make up allegations of domestic violence or abuse to serve their own dishonest purposes. The penalties for domestic battery in Illinois include a fine of up to $2,500 and up to one year in jail. Domestic battery involving certain aggravating circumstances is a felony offense punishable by up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000. Moreover, being accused of domestic violence can have profound effects on your personal and professional reputation as well as child custody or other family law concerns.
Do Not Answer Police Questions Without a Lawyer
If you have been accused of physical violence against a current or former romantic partner, household member, or family member, you may be shocked and unsure of what to do next. You may assume that you can simply explain the situation to the police and get yourself out of this unfortunate predicament. Unfortunately, submitting to police questioning can often make the situation much worse. Remember, anything you say to police may be used against you during subsequent criminal proceedings. Decline police questions until you have spoken with an attorney. Your lawyer will help you determine how best to proceed.
Illinois DUI Charges Increase with the Presence of a Child Passenger
Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol and other drugs is a danger to all, including the driver, others on the road, and any passengers in the driver’s vehicle. Any DUI charges in Illinois can result in serious consequences, but certain factors make the charges more severe. For example, Illinois recognizes that children under the age of 16 often have little choice but to get into a vehicle with an intoxicated driver, such as a parent who has authority over them. Drivers who abuse their authority by putting minor children at risk are thus subject to additional consequences when they are convicted on DUI charges.
Additional Penalties for DUI With Passengers Under the Age of 16
In Illinois, a first conviction on DUI charges is a Class A misdemeanor. While state law allows a jail sentence of less than one year for a crime of this magnitude, the court will often issue a more lenient sentence for first offenders, perhaps including fines and court supervision in lieu of imprisonment. However, leniency is much less likely if there was a passenger under the age of 16 in the driver’s vehicle at the time of their arrest. In this case, a first conviction will likely include six months of imprisonment, and the offender will also be ordered to pay an additional $1,000 fine and complete 25 days of community service that benefits children.
Illinois House Bill Reinforces Constitutional Rights for Criminal Defendants
Earlier in 2021, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 3653, known as the Criminal Justice Omnibus Bill, and Governor Pritzker subsequently signed it into law. The bill provides for substantial policing reforms, as well as significant changes to how defendants are treated in the Illinois criminal justice system. Parts of the bill take effect on July 1 of this year, while others will be phased in over time. If you are arrested on criminal charges in the coming months and years, you are likely to benefit from the additional protections the bill provides for your constitutional rights.
Criminal Defendants’ Rights in Illinois
The Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution provides several important protections for people who are charged with a criminal offense. These constitutional rights apply in both federal and state cases. If you are charged with a crime, you should be sure to understand the following:
Battery vs. Assault: Which Is More Serious in Illinois?
With regards to criminal law and criminal defense in particular, all crimes are serious, carrying with them significant penalties, but all crimes also have varying degrees of this substantiality. Concerning battery and assault specifically, and aggravated battery and aggravated assault especially, the differences are slight but certainly could result in much more serious and severe consequences depending on classification. Here is a summary of the major differences between assault, battery, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery to illustrate this point.
Assault: Defined
According to Illinois law, assault happens when someone without any legal authority knowingly engages in an action that places someone else in a circumstance more likely to lead to battery.
A simple assault would result in a Class C misdemeanor, which carries with it up to 30 days in jail and up to $1,500 worth of fines, in addition to potential other penalties.
4 Reasons to Retain a Juvenile Defense Attorney in Illinois
If your son or daughter has been accused of a crime, he or she will probably need to face trial but not in an adult criminal court. For minors ages 17 and younger, DuPage County has a robust juvenile court system. They take every crime committed by young people very seriously. From relatively minor crimes such as theft or traffic violations to much more serious offenses like underage drinking, DUI, drug possession, and sexual assault, juvenile offenses in Illinois have the potential to threaten the future of your son or daughter’s life.
Fortunately, in Illinois, despite a strict juvenile court system, the objective is still rehabilitation as opposed to punishment. Nearly everyone involved in the process is looking to help the accused get back on track after the follies of their youth or other lapses in judgment attributed to immaturity as a young person. However, that is not to say that your son or daughter should not have the appropriate representation from a juvenile defense attorney during their trial. Here are some reasons why the right lawyer during a juvenile defense case is critical.
COVID-19 Exposure During and After Arrest Can Be a Unique Criminal Defense Strategy
If you are apprehended by law enforcement for any criminal charges, including DUI, drug charges, assault, Internet sex crimes, or a wide variety of other criminal offenses, there are myriad ways that a police officer could fail to follow proper procedures during and after your arrest that could be used against the prosecution if your case goes to trial. Anything from use of excessive force to neglecting to read you your rights or corrupting the evidence collected at the scene, be it unintentionally or otherwise. However, in this age of the COVID-19 pandemic, even with the first round of vaccines already being rolled out, there is an increased likelihood of the police making some mistakes that could infect you with the COVID-19 virus. If that is the circumstance, you might get the case dismissed or you could win the case on that single technicality. Here is an overview of the potential in using coronavirus exposure as a unique criminal defense strategy for this unprecedented time in history.
Strategies to Help You Defend Against Child Pornography Charges in Illinois
Internet sex crimes alone are difficult to defend, especially in such a fast-paced, technology-driven world where it takes more than good old-fashioned research and quality in-person testimonies to create compelling arguments. Sometimes you and your lawyer will need experts in computer forensics and other fields to help clarify issues and circumstances. Other times you will need a lawyer to go above and beyond in his or her own work to understand the complexities, subtleties, and intricacies of your case. Defending against possession of child pornography charges is no different in this sense. Here are some basic ways that a child pornography defense lawyer can help you with your case.
Ways a Child Pornography Defense Lawyer Can Help
There are many different strategies that a possession of child pornography defense lawyer can use to help you with your case. These key strategies include:
What Is DuPage County Drug Court and How Could It Help You?
If you have been accused of a drug crime, be it possession, intent to distribute, or delivery/sale, you might already know that drug crimes in Illinois are taken very seriously, and the consequences can be severe. However, with the federal government rolling back arrest records and jail time for drug charges through such legislation as the FIRST STEP Act, the focus has shifted toward alternative sentencing for those accused of drug crimes. One of these alternatives is drug court. Here in DuPage County, drug court is common due to its usefulness.
What Is the DuPage County Drug Court?
DuPage County Drug Court is an alternative option for dealing with drug charges. It enables the accused the opportunity to take on their drug addiction and become more productive members of society without flooding the court system and prisons with too many people accused of drug charges. In DuPage County Drug Court, those charged with drug crimes can graduate from a three-phase program that helps them detox and eventually recover from their drug addiction, which in turn will reduce the likelihood of them appearing before a judge again for similar drug charges. Drug Court is not for everyone, as those who are accused of sale or intent to distribute might not have addiction issues, but this alternative to traditional drug charge penalties is still quite beneficial to eligible candidates.
What to Do and What Not to Do When Accused of Cyberbullying
In this brave new digital age of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and countless other social media apps and websites, bullying is no longer just an in-person way for a kid to get some lunch money at school. It is now a global issue that, under many circumstances, has the potential to be as harmful as it ubiquitous—sometimes even involving adults.
Schools are not the only organizations taking notice of this modern type of bullying. In fact, there is computer crime legislation in place across the nation, including Illinois, that sets forth rules to legally punish those who engage in cyberbullying. If you are accused of cyberbullying, consider these tips.
DO NOT:
- Close or deactivate online accounts used to propagate the cyberbullying or open new accounts. This is a bit like hiding the murder weapon if accused of murder, only the hiding place is in plain sight. Social media sites and cell service providers often can retrieve data regardless of account status. More importantly, suspicious major online account actions can backfire and make you look guilty from the start.
What Is the Difference Between Self-Defense and Assault and Battery?
The use or threat of force can be a criminal offense in Illinois. Threatening someone with violence is assault while committing an act of violence against someone is battery. However, Illinois allows actions that would normally be assault or battery if you were acting in defense of yourself, another person, or your property. The difference between battery and self-defense can be murky and heavily depends on the context. Your belief that you were acting in self-defense may not be enough to prevent an assault or battery charge if your response was unreasonable or excessive.
Establishing Self-Defense
There are four key components to proving that your actions were in self-defense:
- You must have reasonably believed that you were in imminent danger of harm.
- The threat must be unlawful, such as someone assaulting or committing battery against you.
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From our office in Wheaton, Illinois, we serve clients throughout the Chicago area including but not limited to Winfield, Warrenville, West Chicago, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Lombard, Oak Brook, DuPage County, Kane County, Will County, and Cook County.
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