Criminal

Blogs
The answer is yes. There is a procedure for asking the court to review the suspension. After you are charged with DUI, the Secretary of State usually suspends your driver’s license on the 46th day after your arrest. Once you receive the notice of a statutory summary suspension of driving privileges, you may request a hearing before the court. You must state the grounds upon which you are seeking to rescind or overturn the suspension. See 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1. One basis for rescinding is that the officer lacked reasonable grounds to believe you were driving under the influence of…
social-image-logo-og-20.png
Every year, our attorneys see a variety of changes to Illinois traffic laws. Here are a few of the new Illinois traffic-related laws effective in 2019. 1. Your first cell phone ticket will count as a moving violation. A first offense violation of the law prohibiting the use of electronic devices while driving will be charged as a moving violation. Under previous Illinois law, this offense only constituted a moving violation after a 2nd or subsequent offense. Fines under the new law are set at $75.00 – 1st offense; $100.00 – 2nd offense; $125.00 – 4th offense; and $150.00 –…
The appellant in People v. Allen, 2019 IL App (1st) 162985, appealed the decision of the Circuit Court of Cook County denying leave to file his third successive pro se petition on the grounds that appellant’s mental illness renders him incapable of meeting the threshold burden of showing an arguably meritorious claim. Appellant Allen was convicted of home invasion and the first-degree murder of his sister, Debbie Whitebear. Id. at ¶ 4. During appellant’s trial proceedings, Allen was diagnosed with a “psychotic delusional disorder.” Id. at ¶ 6. Appellant’s diagnosis, made following the examination and testimony (at a fitness…
On May 8, 2019, the Appellate Court of Illinois Fourth District, having previously denied appellant Demario D. Reed’s appeal of the Macon County Circuit Court’s decision to deny post-conviction relief in People v. Reed, 2019 IL App (4th) 170090, re-affirmed their judgment (originally filed on March 27, 2019) and denied a subsequent petition for re-hearing. The court’s background and analysis in the modified opinion remains largely the same, yet the analysis section is augmented significantly by their revised consideration of the precedential value of People v. Shaw, 2018 IL App (1st) 152994. Shaw was initially cited by appellant in his…
fire-truck-923240_1280.jpg
Illinois State Police Troopers have been giving motorists special attention lately, focusing on enforcement of Scott’s Law or Failure to Yield to an Emergency Vehicle. Not a lot of Illinois motorists know about this law, and unfortunately, that lack of awareness has resulted in serious injury and death to several police officers in the past several months. What is Scott’s Law, or the Move Over Law? While slowing is subjective, we recommend slowing enough so that the officer can visibly see the deceleration. While you can fight about whether you slowed in court, the officer won’t even stop you if…
Truck drivers trying to navigate Chicago’s streets safely have to watch carefully to avoid cars and pedestrians, but also have to be aware of the overpasses as well. When the driver of a Freightliner box truck clipped a McKinley Park overpass earlier this year, he was “feeling bad because I had gotten into a major accident and I didn’t know what to do.” Seemingly out of nowhere, a helpful tow truck driver appeared and lent a hand, hauling the damaged Freightliner to the towing company’s storage lot. However, the tow truck guy might not have been as helpful as he…
People v. Kruckenberg, 2019 IL App (3d) 170505-U. Episode 628 (Duration 31:43).  Matthew Paulson and Larry Vandersnick describe a drug interdiction traffic stop and analyze where it went wrong for the prosecution. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS | Direct Download APPLE PODCASTS GOOGLE PODCASTS SPOTIFY ANDROID RSS DIRECT DOWNLOAD In This Episode… “The appellate court is looking at what is actually going on in the case versus just looking at the total amount of time.” — Matthew Paulson. Matthew Paulson & Larry Vandersnick Matt Paulson has over 7 years of experience and has…
file.jpg
My new criminal defense practice in Springfield, IL is still in its infancy. I began renting an office on March 1 but didn’t sign up my first client until mid-April. This was really all right with me. During that six weeks I had time to rebuild my law library, refresh my criminal procedure and catch-up on changes to the law since I left the practice in 2013. My first felony client was in custody at the local county jail. He began passing around my business card to fellow inmates. Then my phone really began ringing. Unlike in Chicago, inmates here…
Our Lake County DUI defense attorneys have an in-depth knowledge of Illinois DUI law and the ability to negotiate and litigate to secure the best possible outcome for our clients. Below is a recent case handled by the defense attorneys at The Davis Law Group, P.C. at the Waukegan Courthouse in Lake County, Illinois. DUI Defense Case Study – Hawthorn Woods, Lake County, Illinois The case summary below relates to a DUI arrest that occurred in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois. The case was assigned to the Waukegan Courthouse, more formally known as the 19th Judicial Circuit Court. This particular courthouse hears…
Charges against two Chicago men are serious, though law enforcement officials say the allegations could become much more serious. One of the men has been charged with felony drug offenses, including the manufacture or of heroin and possession of a controlled substance, according to Cook County court records. But police officials said the men might be connected to a series of overdoses caused by a batch of fentanyl-laced heroin that left four people dead on Chicago’s West Side. Law enforcement officials said the powerful heroin had caused at least 17 overdoses in the past two weeks and that the…
You’ve seen the movie. The leading man’s girl knows too much about the crime. The solution: Get married! Then, she can’t be forced to testify. But is that how it works in real life? For the most part, the answer is yes. But there are exceptions. Under 725 ILCS 5/115-16, spouses may testify against each other but not as to any communications made between them during their marriage. For the marital privilege to apply, the communicating spouse must intend to convey a confidential message made in reliance on the confidence of the marital relationship. The marital privilege does have…
In People v. Buffer, 2019 IL 122327, the Illinois Supreme Court reviewed, and ultimately affirmed, an appellate court’s decision to overturn the Cook County circuit court’s dismissal of a pro se post-conviction petition filed by the petitioner, Dimitri Buffer. The petition asserted that a 50-year prison sentence for a crime committed by a 16-year-old was unconstitutional, as applied to the petitioner. The circuit court of Cook County initially dismissed the petition, yet their dismissal was promptly reversed by the appellate court, who held that the petitioner’s sentence was “imposed without consideration of his youth and its attendant characteristics” Id. at ¶…
The daring escape attempt looked like something out of the movies. Chicago police said a 22-year-old man recently jumped from a sixth story window in an attempt to evade arrest. The escape attempt failed, however, after the man landed on the concrete sidewalk outside of his South Side apartment, breaking bones and suffering serious internal injuries. According to a report in the Sun-Times, the suspect was taken first to a hospital and later charged in federal court with murder in aid of racketeering and illegal possession of a 9mm handgun. The newspaper article says the suspect was wearing an electronic…
social-image-logo-og-13.png
Rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft routinely disqualify potential drivers based on traffic tickets that appear on their driving records. These companies run background checks on all drivers in order to determine their eligibility when they first apply and periodically thereafter. Our traffic ticket defense attorneys are often contacted by rideshare drivers looking to clean up their Illinois driving record after finding out they have been disqualified by a rideshare company. Oftentimes, drivers don’t realize the consequences of simply paying a traffic ticket, which results in a conviction on their driving record. Fortunately, under certain circumstances, removing Illinois traffic …