People v. DL
Our Client was charged with Felony Unlawful use of a Weapon. The police were called to a loitering/noise complaint. When they arrived, they discovered several males loitering outside what they believed to be a vacant residence. One of the males claimed the residence was his and allowed police into the house to show the officers the deed. Once inside, the officers claimed that they saw our Client in possession of a handgun. The prosecution was offering the maximum time of 3 years in prison. We held a conference with the judge and were able to cut that time in half to 18 months. Our Client dressed in and dressed out of the Illinois Department of Corrections and was home in less than a week.
People v. DR
Our Client was Charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. Our Client was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. The Police subsequently search our Client's vehicle and recovered a bottle of prescription cough syrup which was suspected to contain codeine. Our Client could not produce a valid prescription for the medicine. All charges were dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing.
People v. LG
Our Client was charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. She was facing up to 3 years in prison if convicted. The Police pulled over our Client's vehicle. After the stop, they claim they saw our Client making movements attempting to conceal something inside the seat of the car. The Police claimed that upon further inspection, they saw a metal crack pipe in plain view on our Client's lap along with 9 hypodermic needles and a bag of weed. They also claimed that when they ordered our Client out of the vehicle, they saw a large bag of narcotics sticking out of her front pant pocket which contained 6 additional bags of heroin. Although the case went beyond the Preliminary Hearing Stages, we were able to convince the Prosecution to dismiss all charges against our Client.
People v. RT
Our Client was charged with a Felony Weapon's Violation of the Law. Because of his background, our Client was facing up 15 years in prison. It was alleged that our Client had gotten into a verbal altercation with an out of town guest that he was trying to remove from his apartment. During the argument, our Client allegedly got on the phone. Moments later, 2 individuals arrived. One of those individuals was armed with an UZI equipped with a silencer; the other individual had a handgun. The victim (unwanted guest) was allegedly threatened by all three individuals. Although the other 2 individuals plead guilty immediately, we advised our Client that we thought he had a good case. Even though the prosecution initially tried to play hardball with a not so great deal, our Client rejected their offer. When they saw we were prepared to fight the charges, the prosecution crumbled and dismissed all the charges at the Preliminary Hearing Stages of the case.
People v. BM
Our Client was charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. Our Client was seen leaving a "Known Narcotic Area." Our Client placed an unknown object into his back pocket. As our Client attempted to leave the area, he was detained by the Police. Of course, the Police claim he admitted the item in his pocket was some "blow." The Police searched his pockets and recovered the item. All charges were dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing.
People v. VL
Client was charged with Felony Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon. The case was dismissed after litigating a Motion to Quash Arrest and Suppress Evidence. The Judge found that the police who were responding to a call of shots fired had no information connecting Client to the shots fired and, therefore, had no reason to search him and recover a weapon.
People v. BR
Our Client was charged with a Felony Driving on a Revoked or a Suspended License. He was facing 2 - 5 years in prison because he had previously been convicted of Driving on a Revoked or a Suspended License on 9 prior occasions. The Police claim that they witnessed our Client driving a vehicle and fail to properly use his turning signal. After pulling him over, the police learned that Our Client's license was suspended for a prior DUI and that he had 9 previous convictions for driving on a suspended license. We were able to negotiate the minimum time of 2 years for our Client. Although this outcome may not seem like a success, it demonstrates that a person's background can have a strong negative effect on the outcome of the case. We really had no grounds to argue for probation for our Client when he had 9 prior convictions for the same thing, plus Felony Burglary and Felony Theft convictions. The minimum prison time really was the best deal our Client could get. The good news is that we successfully argued to have more than half of the time credited because of time our Client spent on Electronic Monitoring. Our Client will get out before the end of the year!
People v. TB
Client was facing 3-5 years in prison for stealing from JCP. Client was caught red handed on video trying to exit the store with almost $700 worth of stuff. We avoided prison for our client and negotiated a deal with the prosecution for probation and also convinced the Judge to waive all the probation fees!
People v. MV
Client was charged with Felony Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon - 1000 Feet of a Park. The police were responding to gunshots and claim to have seen our client running and trying to discard a weapon behind a dumpster. They also claimed that our client confessed that the gun was his. The prosecution was offering 5 years in the penitentiary. We successfully conferenced the case with the Judge. We were able to avoid prison and got probation for our Client.
People v. EM
Our Client was charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance. Officers alleged that they stopped our Client for driving the wrong way down a one-way street. The testifying officer claimed to have seen our Client reach into his pocket and stuff a golf ball size bag of narcotics into his mouth and begin to chew and swallow it. The testifying officer stated that he grabbed our Client at which point the bag exploded and several small bags flew out of our Client's mouth into the passenger compartment of the car. The problem with the officer's testimony was that he said he saw our Client pull this golf ball sized item out of his pocket while our Client was seated in the driver's seat of a Hummer and the Officer, who admitted to being only 5'3" stood outside. At 5'3", there is no way for the officer to make the observation he claimed to have made because of the size of the vehicle. All charged were dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing.
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