Expungement Orders Ignored By State Police

The Illinois State Police have been ignoring Court Orders directing them to expunge criminal records. This practice seems to be limited to court orders coming out of the Markham Courthouse in Cook County. These court orders have been complied with by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and the arresting police agencies, but not the Illinois State Police. Approximately 281 expungement orders issued by the Chief Judge at Markham have not been complied with by the Illinois State Police. Once the expungement order is entered, the defendant, or their attorney, forwards the Order to the Illinois State Police. In 281 of those cases, the Illinois State Police has mailed a letter back to the defendant, or their attorney, informing them that their case could not be expunged. At least one Petition has been filed in Markham seeking to hold the Illinois State Police in contempt of court for failing to comply with a court order. In response, the Illinois State Police agreed to comply with 137 expungement orders but refused to comply with another 144. The petition to hold the Illinois State Police in contempt of court has since been voluntarily dismissed while the defendant in the case and the Illinois State Police try to negotiate a settlement of this issue.

Once again, this practice of ignoring expungement orders appears to be limited to expungement orders coming out of the Markham courthouse.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Civil Lawsuits Being Tried To Fight Gangs

I ran into a very interesting article in the Chicago Sun-Times about something that has been going on in DuPage County. Civil lawsuits are being filed against suspected street gang members. The lawsuits allows officials to seek money damages from gang members who break the law and allows officials to get court orders against these gang members barring them from engaging in any gang activity. Those activities include flashing gang signs, showing tattoos, hanging out with other known gang members and barring them from certain towns and suburbs where gang activity is known to occur. This practice started in California in the 1980's and has been tried in Texas and Minnesotta.

To read the full article click here.

According to a Chicago police spokeswoman, this is something that Chicago is reviewing.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Chicago Murder Rate Passes 500

At 8:40 p.m. on Monday night, Chicago officially passed the 500 mark for the number of murders in 2008. About 40 minutes later, the number reached 501. Both of Monday's murders appear to be gang related. The police think that about half of the 2008 murders were gang related. Regular readers of this blog know that we have been tracking the murder rate and the increase in the rate of violent crime in this city all year. We have cited numerous articles in which police and prosecutors have been trying to place blame on each other for the increase in these rates. The real significance of the 500 mark is when you compare the 2008 rate to the 2007 rate. The fact is that even with 500 murders, 2008 would still be one of the lowest murder rates in many decades. However, in 2007 there were 443 murders. 2008's murder rate would represent an almost 20% increase over last year. This summer, attention was focused on the increased violent crime and murder rate because of the dramatic increase in random shootings and violence in the city. Most recently, the triple slaying of Jennifer Hudson's family cast a national spotlight on Chicago's violent crime problem.

Chicago Police Superintendent, Jody Weis, who was appointed to the position almost a year ago, has taken quite a bit of criticism for these increased rates. There have been whispers of discontent among police officers and complaints of low morale. Superintendent Weiss has responded by urging his officers to be more aggressive and creating some special units to specifically combat gang violence.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Cook County Judge Nabs Criminal

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Nicholas Ford was involved in an incident on Thursday night in which he ended up capturing a suspect that was tampering with his wife's car. Judge Ford was driving home when he saw a couple of men tampering with his wife's car. He chased one of the suspects down the street and was able to get him down. A struggle ensued and the man struck Judge Ford in the back of the neck with is elbow. Some neighbors joined in the effort and held the man down until police arrived. The 44 year old Judge Ford has been on the bench for about 11 years.

To read the full article, click here.

Judge Ford is a highly respected and admired Cook County Judge with a felony courtroom at 26th and California. He is back at work.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Early Signs of Possible Tensions Between Police and Prosecutors

I ran into an article in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday about how the Chicago Police has been reviewing the overtime hours of it's Detectives. The review seems to center around a sense within the police department that prosecutors have taken over the investigation of cases and are ordering detectives to do additional work on cases. From the article, there seems to be some tension between the police and prosecutors over the way prosecutors order police detectives to do additional work on cases. The article states that about half of the overtime of detectives is due to additional work requested by prosecutors. The article also seems to state that there is some tension between the police and prosecutors over this process.

To read the article in it's entirety, click here.

We will keep on eye on the news to see if there is more to this apparent "tension" between police and prosecutors.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-8--228-7295.

States Putting Criminal Records Online - Not Illinois

I ran into an interesting article which discusses how states are starting to put criminal databases online. On Monday Vermont became the newest state to put these records online. There are currently 20 states that allow citizens to access the criminal files online. Some charge a fee and allow people to request corrections if the information available online is wrong.

To read the article click here.

There is no such effort being made in Illinois that we are aware of. Criminal defense attorneys in Cook County have long dreamed of the day that they could access the criminal case database in the Clerk of the Circuit Court's website online. This would be particularly helpful to find out exactly what clients, and prospective clients, are charged with and where cases are assigned from the Chief Judge. According to this article at least 20 states have overcome whatever fears may exist of clerical errors and potential liability. There must be some way to bring Cook County into the 21st Century when it comes to this.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Video Bail Hearings at 26th Street Finished

Since 1999, individuals newly arrested have stood in front of a camera in the basement of the courthouse at 26th and California while the judge sitting in the courtroom above them presided over their bond hearing. Starting Monday, this process has been eliminated. Many attorneys have argued for years that a video bond hearing violates an individuals constitution right to be present in court. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart hopes that by ending these video bond hearings and bringing individuals in front of judges, it will ease overcrowding in the jail by giving judges a better idea of whether someone should be released on bond or held in custody in the jail. This is also part of Sheriff Dart's effort to give judges the final say so in whether someone should be eligible to be released on electronic monitoring.

Sheriff's Dart's ultimate goal is to ease overcrowding in the Cook County Jail.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

DNA Samples To Be Gathered From Time of Arrest For Federal Crime

The Justice Department has announced that starting January 9, 2009, anyone arrested by the federal government will have a DNA sample taken at the time of the arrest, and the sample will be placed in a national database. In 2005 Congress passed legislation authorizing the Justice Department to make these rules. Up until now, the only time that a DNA sample would be taken by the federal government would be when an individual was convicted. This is how it works in Illinois. In Illinois defendants convicted of a felony offense are required to submit DNA samples upon being convicted. These new rules allow agents to take DNA samples upon an arrest rather than a conviction.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Indiana Woman Lights Up Marijuana Cigarette In Front of Trooper

I ran across this funny story this morning. An Indiana State Trooper pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation. While the Trooper was talking to the driver, the passenger asked the officer if she could have a cigarette. The Trooper gave her permission to have a smoke and she pulled out a cigarette and lit up. The Trooper, apparently smelling something was wrong, seized the cigarette and discovered that it was actually marijuana. The passenger was arrested and charged with possession of drugs.

Some people are just asking for it!

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Executions and Death Sentences Declining

The Death Penalty Information Center has issued a year end report which indicates that the number of death sentences imposed in the United States this year is at or near a three decade low. The Center also reports that in all of 2008 a total of 37 executions were carried out and no more are expected to be carried out this year. This is the lowest number since 1994. The Center also estimates that the total number of death sentences imposed this year was 111. There were 115 death sentences imposed in 2007. The 2007 number is more than 60 percent lower than from 1998. This drop illustrates how big the decline has been. It is important to note that the Death Penalty Information Center is opposed to the death penalty. They point out in their report that the death penalty has become a regional phenomenon. All but four of the executions this year happened in the South and Texas. A full half of the executions were carried out in Texas alone where 18 prisoners were executed. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. All of the executions in 2008 occurred after April 16, which is when a de facto moratorium had been imposed on the death penalty pending a decision by the United States Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the use of lethal injection. Experts expected that it would take a little time for the pace to pick up by there is evidence that this trend may continue. The reason is in the drop in the number of death sentences imposed. The ban was only on executions and not on the imposition of the death penalty. The drop in the imposition of the death penalty is proof that this decline in executions may be long term.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense lawyers at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Update on Florida Lawyer Case

On November 17, 2008, we posted a blog about an indicted Florida attorney charged with laundering money from a suspected Columbian drug lord. The case has gotten a lot of attention in the Criminal Defense community because an adverse decision in this case could have a chilling effect on criminal defense attorneys accepting possibly tainted legal fees. The attorneys for Ben Kuehne are attempting to have the Federal District Court Judge hearing the case, Marcia Cooke, toss the charges. the Judge has already dismissed a key charge brought by the government and may toss the remaining charges.

To read about the updated progress of this case click here.

The same Federal District Judge that is hearing this case was also the trial Judge on the case involving alleged Al Qaeda domestic terrorist Jose Padilla. Judge Cooke boldly dismissed the terrorism charges against Padilla only to have her decision overturned on appeal.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Considers Whether to Overturn Death Sentence

The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on an interesting death penalty case. The case is Cone v. Bell, 07-1114. Cory Bradford Cone was convicted of First Degree Murder in Tennessee in 1984 and sentenced to death. Cone admits that he killed an elderly couple in a robbery in Memphis. However, Cone claimed that he was legally insane because he was in a drug induced psycotic state and suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome due to his military service in Vietnam. The prosecutor ridiculed Cone's claim at trial and he was convicted and sentenced to death. After the trial, it was discovered that the prosecutor withheld evidence from the defense indicating that state and federal law informant officials had internal communications describing Cone as a heavy drug user as well as witness statements that bolstered Cone's defense that he was legally insane at the time of the crime.

Reporters inside today's oral arguments report that several of the Justice's became angry with the prosecutor when the state claimed that they had no duty to turn over this evidence to the defense. The Court will issue an opinion on this case in several months. We will keep you updated when the opinion is released.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

FBI Executes Search Warrant on Harvey Police Department

On Friday FBI agents executed a search warrant on the Harvey Police Department. It us unclear if Friday's search warrant is related to the arrest of Harvey police detective Archie Stallworth for providing protection to drug dealers. In addition to Stallworth, three other Harvey police officers were charged as well. FBI agents made the Harvey police officers on duty stay in one room while the agents searched the police station. The Harvey police officers were not allowed to leave during the search. Apparently, FBI agents removed the hinges from a locked door to gain access to a room in the station.

This is not the first time that a search warrant has been executed on the Harvey police department.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Feds Charge 15 Cops with Providing Protection to Drug Dealers

Federal authorities have indicted 15 law enforcement officers recruited by undercover federal agents to provide protection for a dozen fake drug deals in Oak Lawn, Tinley Park, Homewood, Matteson and DuPage Airport. At the center of the conspiracy is Harvey detective Archie Stallworth. Federal agents released a photograph of Stallworth carrying three bags of what he believed to be stuffed with 30 kilos of cocaine into a vehicle. Stallworth also works as a Metra train conductor. Some undercover audio tapes were played at Stallworth's probable cause hearing. In those tapes Stallworth is heard telling the undercover agent that Harvey was the best place to conduct their drug deals because he could provide protection for the dealers and that "if anything's going down, we going to know about it." On the same tape Stallworth is heard telling the undercover agent how to avoid being caught.

Stallworth's attorney is claiming that his client was not guilty of any wrongdoing and that he was merely conducting his own undercover investigation of suspected drug dealing.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Former Chicago Cop Convicted

We have an update on the Federal police corruption trial of former Chicago police officer Mahmoud Shamah. A federal jury convicted Shamah in the trial which we first reported on November 22, 2008. Shamah was convicted of shaking down local drug dealers. He was also convicted of stealing $30,000 in cash placed in a police evidence locker by FBI agents as part of a sting operation. The theft was videotaped by the federal agents. Shamah's partner testified at the trial that he and Shamah would carry crack that they would plant on suspects, paid informants for shaky information and even bribed a Cook County judge to sign a fake search warrant. There was even a wiretap that revealed that Shamah and his partner took $100 each from $420 in cash seized from someone in a traffic stop.

Federal prosecutors asked that the Court revoke his bond arguing that he was a flight risk. The Court disagreed and allowed Shamah to remain free on bond pending his sentencing.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

More Escapes From Police Custody

At least 2 more individuals escaped from police custody last week. Both were eventually captured. Eric Curtis was picked up by the Elmhurst police on a warrant from the Chicago Heights parole office. While being transported in the police vehicle, Curtis kicked out the back window of the police vehicle and tried to run off. He was cornered by Homewood police and tasered in the right leg and placed into custody. Curtis was charged with burglary, criminal damage to a vehicle and resisting police.

Cortez Fleming was driving a 2001 Buick LaSabre without a working headlight. The police tried to pull him over but he fled. The police checked the license plates and discovered that the car had been reported stolen in Dolton. He led the police on a chase that ended in Sauk Village. He bailed out of the car fleeing in one direction and his driverless car headed in another direction. After a short foot pursuit the police caught Fleming. He was charged with Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle, Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding and Resisting Arrest.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.