A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160

You’ve seen the movies. The prisoner busts out of jail and makes a run for it complete with searchlights circling, dogs barking and sirens blaring. Obviously, that sort of escape is a criminal offense.

But what if you simply panicked and ran away from police during an arrest? Under Illinois law, you could be charged if you intentionally escape while in the lawful custody of a peace officer for an alleged offense. If your arrest is for a felony, you can be charged with a Class 2 Felony. If your arrest is for a misdemeanor, the charge can be Class A Escape. If armed with a dangerous weapon, your offense can be upgraded to a Class 1 Felony. (See 720 ILCS 5/31-6). If you are in a penal institution, escape can include failing to report back from a work furlough or day release. You can also be charged with escape for violating a condition of probation or supervision.

In determining whether you were in lawful custody, Illinois courts look at how much control the officer had over you and how much restriction was on your freedom of movement. Merely announcing you are under arrest might not be enough to establish lawful custody. In People v. Garza, however, the court held the defendant was in lawful custody where officers told defendant he was under arrest, stood within two feet of him and escorted him throughout the house after defendant was given permission to put on his clothing and say goodbye to his family, then escorted him down the stairs and through the door.

If you have been charged with escape or a similar crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Can the state prove all the elements of your offense beyond a reasonable doubt? Were you in lawful custody at the time? Even if the police acted lawfully and the evidence against you is overwhelming, an attorney who is respected in the courthouse may be able to negotiate a more favorable plea agreement than you could on your own.

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.)

You left your baby in the car while you were in the mall running errands. When you came out, a couple police officers had broken your window to check on your now-crying child. In the process, they found illegal medication on the back seat. Now you have been arrested for illegal narcotics and for child endangerment.

Did the police have a right to seize the drugs while dealing with your infant?

Under Illinois law, the answer is probably yes. As long as the officers were legitimately performing their community caretaking function, they need not ignore the evidence in front of them.

In People v. Woods, officers received a tip that the defendant had left her four-month old infant alone in the house. The officers knocked, listened for sounds of distress and peeked in windows to investigate. The officers entered the home after the defendant arrived. They found the infant had been alone and charged defendant with child endangerment. Defendant argued that once she arrived home, the officer’s community caretaking function ended, and thus, there was no need to investigate further. The court disagreed, finding it was reasonable for the officers to want to see that the infant was safe with their own eyes. Further, there was no evidence that the community caretaking function had been used as an excuse for a criminal investigation.

If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Was the seizure of evidence against you justified by the community caretaking function? If not, an attorney may be able to bring a motion to suppress the evidence from your arrest.

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.)

If you watch enough police shows, you know all about your right to an attorney when charged with a crime. But to exercise that right, you have to be specific.

Under Illinois law, you must clearly ask police for an attorney so that a reasonable officer under the circumstances would understand your statement to be a request for an attorney. Otherwise, the police can keep questioning you. Although no specific words are required, merely mentioning a lawyer to police is insufficient to stop the interrogation.

Courts have viewed the following language as not sufficient to invoke counsel: 1) “Maybe I should talk to a lawyer.” 2) “Am I going to be able to get a lawyer?” 3) “Do I need a lawyer before we start talking?” and 4) “I can’t ask for a lawyer?”

To protect your Miranda rights, you should say something like: “I invoke my right to remain silent and to have an attorney present,” or “I don’t want to answer any questions, and I want an attorney.”

If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Did you clearly ask for an attorney? If police continued to question you, your attorney may be able to petition the court to suppress any statements you made as a result.

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.

See People v. Brickhouse.

(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.)

Criminal cases do not routinely get thrown out of court short of a plea agreement or trial. But the court can dismiss your case if it meets certain criteria.

A court may dismiss a case on any of the following bases:

1. Your case did not go to trial within the time limits of the speedy trial act.
2. Prosecution is barred by double jeopardy.
3. You received immunity from prosecution.
4. You were indicted by a grand jury that was not properly selected or certified, resulting in substantial injustice to you.
5. The court does not have jurisdiction or the county is an improper place of trial.
6. The charge against you does not state an offense. For example, the indictment omits an element of the offense charged.
7. The indictment against you is based on testimony from an incompetent witness, for example, the witness is mentally ill.
8. You are incorrectly named resulting in substantial injustice to you.
9. Bail was not set or you were not indicted by a grand jury within certain time limits.

Apart from the above statutory grounds, the court may dismiss a case where there is a clear denial of due process which prejudices you. (See People v. Atchison and People v. Lopez.) Be aware, however, that whether a judge thinks your case meets the legal grounds for dismissal can be very fact specific and opinions can differ widely between judges. Therefore, an attorney who knows the courthouse may be better able to present your case in its most favorable light before your particular judge.

If you have been charged with a criminal offense, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. If your case meets one of the above criteria, an attorney may be able bring a motion before the court seeking dismissal.

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.

See 725 ILCS 5/114-1.

(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.)

Defacing a firearm in Illinois is serious business.

If you knowingly or intentionally changed, removed or obliterated the name of the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number from any firearm, you can be charged with a Class 2 felony.

Simply possessing a firearm where the serial number has been changed or removed is a Class 3 felony. See 720 ILC 5/24-5. To convict you for possession, the State need only prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knowingly possessed a firearm which was defaced. The state need not show that you knew the weapon was defaced.

The law exempts people who repair or replace parts on guns if they remove marks other than the serial number. The state has six years to bring charges against you for defacing or possessing a defaced gun.

If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Did the police have probable cause to search the premises where they found the defaced weapon? Can the state prove that you knowingly possessed the gun? Even if the police acted lawfully and the evidence against you is overwhelming, an attorney who is respected in the courthouse may be able to negotiate a more favorable plea agreement than you could on your own.

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.

Source: People v Lee

(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.)

Two officers were chasing a suspect down an alley. The suspect happens to be your cousin. The officers asked you which way you he ran and you pointed them in the opposite direction.

Can you be charged with a crime? The answer is yes.

In Illinois, you can be charged with Obstructing Justice if you intend to prevent the apprehension or obstruct the prosecution or defense of any person (including yourself), and you knowingly:

1. 1. Destroy, alter, conceal or disguise physical evidence, plant false evidence, furnish false information;
   2. Induce a witness having knowledge material to the subject at issue to leave the State or conceal him or herself;
   3. Leave the State or conceal yourself when you possess knowledge material to the subject at issue;

or

1. Provide false information to officials during the investigation of the death or disappearance of a child and you are a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker of that child who is under 13 years of age.

Illinois appellate courts are divided on whether the law requires that providing false information result in a material impediment to the administration of justice. The Fifth District Court of Appeals says it does not, but the Second District says that it does. See People v. Casler, People v. Gordon and People V. Taylor. The defendants in all three cases gave false names to police.

Obstructing justice is a Class 4 felony, punishable by 1 to 4 years in prison. If the obstruction is intended to further street gang-related activity, you may be instead charged with a Class 3 felony, punishable by 2 to 5 years in prison.

If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Do the police have probable cause to arrest you? Can the state prove all the elements of your offense beyond a reasonable doubt? Even if the police acted lawfully and the evidence against you is overwhelming, an attorney who is respected in the courthouse may be able to negotiate a more favorable plea agreement than you could on your own.

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.)

Your ex-spouse has an order of protection against you. You thought it was still okay to call her best friend, but now the police have arrested you for violating the order.

What is the law? What can you do?

You can be charged with violating an order of protection if you 1) knowingly commit an act prohibited by the order or fail to commit an act ordered by the order, and 2) you have been served notice or have actual knowledge of the contents of the order. To avoid trouble, you should read any order carefully and err widely on the side of caution before doing anything that could possibly fall within its terms.

For example in People v. Nelson, an order of protection barred the defendant from sending mail to his infant daughter’s mother. The defendant attempted to evade the order by addressing letters to his daughter. The letters, however, discussed subjects such as the couple’s sex life and the mother’s drug use. The court found the letters were intended for the mother so that the defendant had violated the order. For one thing, the infant daughter could not read. As a result, the defendant was sentenced to six years in prison.

In People v. Mortensen, the defendant violated an order by placing flowers and cupcakes on his estranged wife’s doorstep. The order had required defendant to stay 1000 feet from her residence. The court rejected defendant’s argument that this provision only applied when his wife was at home.

If you have been charged with violating an order of protection or similar crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. Were you properly served with the order? If not, did you know about it? Did you knowingly commit the act that violated it? Through a careful reading of the order, an attorney may be able to make a good faith argument that your actions fell outside the order’s terms.

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

See Violation of an Order of Protection.

(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.)