People v. EC
Our Client was charged with Felony Possession of Cannabis. A State Trooper pulled a car over for an obstructed license plate and crack in the windshield. Our Client was a passenger in that car. The Trooper claims to have immediately smelled cannabis coming from the vehicle when he approached for a field interview. Our Client allegedly admitted to having almost $1,000 of weed in the car. Although the case went beyond the Preliminary Hearing, we were able to negotiate a deal with the prosecution for special expungeable probation. If our Client successfully completes the probation, he will be able to get this arrest and avoid a felony conviction.
People v. OP
Our Client was charged with DUI. He was allegedly seen speeding in the Northbound Lanes of Interstate 90. The Police claimed that he also failed to signal when changing lanes multiple times and also straddled 2 lanes. The Police stated that when they tried to pull our Client over, he failed to pull over and exited the expressway. Once our Client pulled over, the Police say he "immediately lit a cigarette and began smoking" in an alleged attempt to hide the odor of alcohol. The officer reported observations of bloodshot glassy eyes and slurred speech as well as an odor of alcohol once our Client was placed inside the officer's vehicle. After admitting to drinking our Client agreed to perform Field Sobriety Tests and allegedly failed. Finally, our Client blew more than double the legal limit on the breath test. We were able to avoid a conviction for our Client with an agreement with the Prosecutor for Supervision.
People v. FP
Client was charged with Possession of 2000 - 5000 Grams of Cannabis with Intent to Deliver. The Police intercepted an overnight delivery package addressed to our Client at UPS. The package contained 10 lbs of Cannabis. The Police formed a plan to engage in an undercover operation to deliver the package. Officers planted an electronic monitoring device inside the package. Then an Undercover Officer posing as a UPS worker attempted to deliver the package to our Client. When no one answered the door the package was left on the porch. Eventually, our Client came out and retrieved the package. The device inside the package alerted the Officers that the package was opened and they forced entry into our Client's house. Allegedly, the Cannabis had been removed and our Client was in the middle of a drug deal with another individual. The Police claimed that our Client confessed to trying to deliver the Cannabis. The main problem with the prosecution's case was that even though the Police went through all the trouble of intercepting the package, having a narcotics dog check it for drugs, obtaining one warrant to open it, fixing it with an electronic monitoring device, obtaining another search warrant for our Client's house, creating an undercover operation and executing that operation - all within the span of a couple of hours - the Police never video recorded the sting operation! The Police never recorded our Client's alleged confession. They didn't even bother to write it out in crayon and have our Client sign it. We took our case to Jury Trial, and when asked why there wasn't any video surveillance footage, the officer claimed that his unit was not provided with the necessary equipment to record the operation. When pressed about why, in this day and age of cell phones, was this incident not recorded in some way? The Officer claimed he didn't know how to use his cell phone and didn't know if any of the other officers knew how to use their phones. The Jury clearly saw through this gaping hole in the case and the verdict was NOT GUILTY!!!
People v. MA
Our Client was charged with Felony Manufacturing and Delivery of a Controlled Substance within 1000 feet of a school. The Police claim they witnessed our Client engage in multiple hand to hand transactions during which he would tender narcotics for money. After the transactions, the police say that our Client placed the remaining narcotics inside of a plastic bag and covered it with snow on the ground. The Police detained our Client and searched the bag on the ground and found it to contain 23 separate bags of narcotics. Our Client was a 4 time convicted felon and was facing a mandatory minimum of 6-30 years in prison. He had already done 11 years over his 4 previous felony convictions including 7 years in prison for the last time he was convicted. The prosecutors initially offered him a deal for 8 years in prison. Through tough negotiation, the prosecution came way down on their offer to 2 years in prison of which our client would only have to serve approximately 9 months or less.
People v. DH
Client was charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance, Felony Driving on a Revoked or a Suspended License, Possession of Cannabis, Failure to Stop at a Stop Sign, Failure to Stop at a Red Light, and No Insurance. Police Officers claim that our Client was driving and ran a stop sign. Then our Client allegedly ran a red light. Our Client then supposedly began to toss clear bags containing suspect narcotics out the window of his vehicle for no reason. It was at this point that the police stopped him. Then, our Client allegedly dropped two additional bags of suspect narcotics to the ground right in front of the police officers. Then the Police searched our Client and claimed to find even more drugs in his person. After checking our Client's background the Police discovered that his license had been revoked. We were able to have all the charges dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing.
People v. MW
Our Client was charged with Felony Unlawful use of a Weapon by a Convicted Felon. He was facing a mandatory prison sentence of 3-7 years if convicted. Police were called to the scene of a drunk armed security guard at a local store. When they arrived, our Client was working armed security at the location. After speaking with our Client, it was determined that he did not have the credentials he needed to work armed security on his person and he was arrested. At the station, a background check showed that our Client had a prior felony DUI conviction. However, our investigation showed that our Client applied for an FOID card, and one was issued after a background check by the Illinois State Police. Our client successfully went thru a federal background check when purchasing his weapon. Our Client took the required classes and applied for his credentials to work armed security. Again the Illinois State Police issued the credentials. The prosecution took the position that the only reason our Client was able to obtain the proper credentials was because he lied on the paperwork by not disclosing his prior felony conviction. They initially offered the maximum of 7 years in prison. Our position from the beginning was that our Client did not understand that when he received probation for the Felony DUI, it was a felony conviction. Our Client incorrectly believed that probation was not a felony conviction. Our Client incorrectly believed that only people who were sentenced to prison were convicted felons and anyways, his conviction was only for a traffic DUI...how could he possibly be a convicted felon. We were successfully able to negotiate a recommended sentence of 2 years in prison on a reduced charge. However, our Client rejected that offer and we set the case for Jury Trial. The day of the trial the prosecution made an offer of probation to resolve the matter, and it was an offer that our Client couldn't refuse. We successfully avoided prison for our Client.
People v. RM
Our Client was charged with Felony Retail Theft and was facing 1 - 3 years in prison. Because our Client's family contacted us immediately after his arrest, we were able to appear in bond court and obtain house arrest for him instead of him sitting in the County. At the Preliminary Hearing we were able to convince the prosecution to reduce the charges to a misdemeanor and give our Client Time Considered Served for the 7 days he spend on house arrest. He couldn't believe it!
People v. KS
Our Client was charged with Felony Possession of a Firearm with a Defaced Serial Number. He was facing up to 5 years in prison. Officers alleged that our Client got out of the passenger side of a car that had tinted windows was missing a front license plate. The Police approached for a field interview and performed a protective patdown of our Client for Officer safety. During the patdown, the Officer claimed he immediately felt a gun and knew it to be a gun based on his prior police experience. They also claimed that our Client admitted to finding the gun in a bush. During Preliminary Hearing, we argued that the State did not prove that our Client knew the serial numbers were scratched off and, therefore, the charges should be dismissed. The Judge agreed. All the charges were dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing. After losing during the Preliminary Hearing Stages of the case, the Prosecution decided to bring the case back up and indict our Client. We filed a Motion to Quash Arrest and Suppress Evidence on our Client's behalf. The Judge found that the Officer violated our Client's Constitutional rights and the case was dismissed.
People v. GA
Our Client was charged with Felony Driving on a Revoked or a Suspended License. The Police officers claimed that they witnessed our Client driving a vehicle and failed to use a turning signal while turning. Upon pulling our Client over, he was unable to produce a valid driver's license. A check of our Client's driving record revealed that his driver's license was suspended for a prior DUI. The prosecution offered prison time and would not budge. We had a conference with the Judge and successfully lobbied for probation for our Client.
People v. BG
Client was charged with Felony Manufacturing and Delivery of Heroin. The Police claim they were on surveillance and witnessed our Client engage in 2 separate transactions with unknown male passersby. These passersby would allegedly tender an unknown amount of money to our Client who in return would retrieve a green item from inside a black plastic notebook which was on the ground by an abandoned property. Although the Police never stopped any of the passersby to inquire about what they received from our Client, the Police converged on the scene an immediately arrested our Client for selling narcotics. All charges were dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing.
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