Many years ago you were young and reckless.  You got arrested in Illinois.  You wanted to pretend your case didn’t exist, so you skipped out on your court date and eventually moved out of state.  Older and wiser, you worry that a routine traffic stop will send you back to Illinois in handcuffs.

Now, you are ready to deal with your past, clear the warrant and deal with the underlying case.  Can you put it behind you?

The answer is very likely yes.  An attorney can bring your open warrant before your original court to ask a judge to vacate or set it aside.  You would likely have to appear in person for a hearing on this procedure, but you may even be able to make later court appearances on zoom.

Once the warrant is set aside, you will have to settle the underlying offense.   An attorney can help negotiate a plea agreement or take your case to trial.  If you have been gone a long time, the evidence against you may have grown cold.  Therefore, it may be more difficult for the state to try your case. In rare cases, if the offense is very old and relatively minor, the judge might even be willing to dismiss it.

      If you have questions about this or another related Illinois criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post CAN I CLEAR MY OLD ILLINOIS ARREST WARRANT WHEN I LIVE OUT OF STATE? appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has said the answer is no. See Riley v California. While officers may search the arrestee to prevent destruction of evidence or protect the officer from harm, searching a cell phone serves neither purpose. Instead the intrusion to a defendant’s privacy far outweighs those concerns. And an officer can protect the phone’s contents from being remotely erased by following certain procedures.

According to the court, cell phones differ from other physical objects because of their immense storage capacity. Cell phones “could just as easily be called cameras, video players, rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions, maps or newspapers,” the Court wrote. In this digital age, the person who doesn’t carry a “cache of sensitive personal information with them” is the exception.

If you have questions about this or another related criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post DO THE POLICE NEED A WARRANT TO SEARCH A CELL PHONE? THE U.S. SUPREME COURT SAYS ‘YES!’ appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.