Supreme Court Rules Against Man Wrongly Jailed For 18 Years

On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court ruled against a man who had won a $14 jury verdict against New Orleans prosecutors after he spent 14 years on Death Row for a murder that he was convicted of after prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that proved his innocence.  John Thompson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  Prosecutors first tried him for an armed robbery as a way to keep Thompson from taking the stand in his murder case and then to use the armed robbery conviction as a way of having the death penalty imposed.  After he was sentenced to death, a private investigator working for Thompson's attorneys discovered that a blood test conducted in the armed robbery case showed that Thompson did not commit the armed robbery.  The prosecutors admitted that they had intentionally withheld that blood evidence from Thompson's attorneys.  As a result, the armed robbery was dismissed and he was granted a new trial on the murder case.  New evidence emerged at the murder trial and he was found not guilty of the murder.  Thompson sued the district attorney's office and a jury awarded him $14 million.  Thompson spent a total of 18 years in prison, 14 of them on death row.  The Supreme Court overturned the jury verdict and upheld the general immunity that prosecutors have from civil liability.  The decision came down along partisan idealogical lines with the 5 conservative justices winning out.  Apparently, the justices found that a prosecutor cannot be sued for not ensuring that those who work for him were properly trained and followed the law.

The case is Connick v. Thompson.

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 Hears Arguments On Miranda Case Involving Juveniles

Last week, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a Miranda case that could have sweeping implications for young suspects who are interrogated by the police.  The question presented is whether children, by their very nature, are more likely than an adult to feel restrained when being interrogated and should therefore be more likely to be given their Miranda warnings.  The case involves a 13 year old child who was suspected of some residential burglaries in Chapel Hill North Carolina.  A juvenile police detective went to the child's school, pulled the child out of his class and questioned him a a school conference room in the presence of four adults.  The door to the conference room was closed, but not locked, and the juvenile was never read his Miranda rights.  He ended up confessing to the burglaries and was later charged with the crimes.  Under current law, suspects have to be read their Miranda rights if they are in custody.  Whether someone is in custody is determined by looking at whether a "reasonable person" would feel free to leave.  The Plaintiffs in this case are asking that the juveniles age be taken into consideration when determining whether Miranda rights should be read to them.

A decision on this case is expected to be released later this year.

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 Agrees To Hear Death Penalty Case Involving Missed Deadline

On Monday the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of a man who is sitting on death row in Alabama.  Cory Maples was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  He believes that his attorneys made a mistake at his trial which resulted in his conviction for murder.  Maples appealed his conviction claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.  However, his lawyers failed to file an appeal of that decision within the 42 day deadline.  As a result, the Alabama courts refused to hear the appeal from Maples.  The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said that since his lawyers missed the 42 day deadline, Maples cannot appeal his conviction and cannot stop his execution.

The United States Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments later this year.

The case is Maples v. Thomas, 10-63.

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.

New Body Scanners For Cook County Jail

Last week, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced that Cook County Jail will be the first correctional facility in the United States to use the RadPRO SecurPASS scanning machines.  Cook County has purchased 4 of these machines at a cost of $940,500.  The machines are currently located in the jail's two maximum-security buildings and in both the men's and women's receiving rooms where inmates are first processed when they are brought to the jail.  Currently, the jail uses the L-3 detectors that are used at airports.  The new devices allows officers to better detect contraband smuggled in through body cavities.  If will be especially helpful in detecting drugs being smuggled into the jail.  This new technology will make the need to conduct strip searches less likely.  This is important because in 2006 a class action lawsuit was filed concerning strip searches in the jail.  In November of 2010, that lawsuit was settled for $55.3 million.  Roughly 250,000 people were compensated in the class action lawsuit.  In 2008 a court ruled that the jail's policy of conducting strip searches of inmates who were being released as being improper and unconstitutional.  Dart stated that strip searches will still be conducted when officers feel they have probable cause to proceed with such searches.

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 Further Erodes Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The Supreme Court has given federal judges more leeway to depart from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to provide a real second chance to defendants who appear in front of them.  In 2004, Jason Pepper was sentenced to two years in prison and 5 years of supervised release for selling drugs.  At the time he was a 25 year old drug addict who was unemployed and estranged from his family.  His original sentence was 75 percent below the lightest sentence that he could have received according to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.  The original sentencing judge took note of Pepper's cooperation with authorities when he sentenced him.  The government appealed the sentence and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit said that his original sentence was too lenient and returned his case to the trial court for re-sentencing.  By the time of his second re-sentencing, Peppers had been released from prison, had been drug free for five years, attending college and gotten good grades, was a top employee at Sam's Club, had re-established a relationship with his father, was married and living with and supporting her daughter.  In spite of all the good things he had accomplished, Pepper was sentenced to an additional three years and sent back to prison.  The Court of Appeals found that according to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the remarkable progress that Peppers had made after he had been released from prison could not be considered in his re-sentencing.  The Supreme Court took Pepper's case and held that when a defendant's sentence has been set aside on appeal, a district court at re-sentencing may consider evidence of the defendant's rehabilitation after the initial sentence and that evidence may in appropriate cases, support a downward variance from the sentencing guidelines.  The court held that the most important thing that the court must do at sentencing is consider all available evidence to determine what punishment is best.  Now Pepper waits to be re-sentenced again.  He only had eight months when the Supreme Court got involved in his case but his marriage has fallen apart and he's about to start a new job.

The case is Pepper v. United States,09-6822.

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. 

Crime Rate Down But Some Numbers Troubling

The good news is that the Chicago Police announced that the overall crime rate dropped in the first two months of 2011 compared to the first two months of 2010.  The number of robberies, aggravated assaults, batteries, thefts and arsons all decreased.  However, the murder rate increased by 18 percent, car thefts increased by 20 percent, after increasing 23 percent last year, and the number of rapes increased by 4 percent.

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 12-800-228-7295.

BREAKING NEWS: REPORTS THAT QUINN WILL SIGN BILL ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY IN ILLINOIS TOMORROW

The Associated Press is reporting that the legislative sponsors of a bill that seeks to abolish the death penalty in Illinois have been invited to a signing ceremony at the offices of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn tomorrow.  They have been told that Governor Quinn will be signing into law a bill that will abolish the death penalty in Illinois.  The new law would take effect on July 1.  Illinois would join 15 other states and the District of Columbia without the death penalty.  

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 Rules In Favor Of Inmate In DNA Case

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of an inmate convicted of the murder of his girlfriend and 2 adult sons and sentenced to death who is seeking to have a DNA test performed on crime-scene evidence.  We originally reported on this case on May 24, 2010.  We reported that the Supreme Court had agreed to hear this case.  Within three hours after the bodies of Skinner's girlfriend and 2 adult sons were discovered by the police, Skinner was found hiding in the closet of a woman he knew.  The blood of at least one victim was found on Skinner and the police had tracked the trail of blood from the crime scene to the closet in which Skinner was found.  However, additional evidence found at the crime scene was not tested because his attorney feared that those test results could make the murder case against Skinner stronger.  Skinner was eventually convicted of the murders and now argues that DNA tests on this other crime-scene evidence would exonerate him.  He admits being in the home at the time of the murders but insists that he could not have committed the murders because he was passed out from a mix of vodka and codeine.  His attorneys now point to a deceased uncle of his girlfriend as the possible murderer.  After Skinner was convicted of the murders he tried to invoke a Texas law which allows inmates to request DNA testing after their conviction.  Texas refused to grant him the DNA testing so he filed a lawsuit in Federal Court invoking 42 U.S.C. 1983, the so called Section 1983 to request a DNA test.  The court refused to rule on the merits of Skinner's claim but opened the door to allow Skinner to make the claim in court.  His case now returns to the trial court to determine whether he will be allowed access to the DNA testing.  Analysts see this is a narrow procedural ruling which opens the door to inmates seeking DNA testing after they are convicted.

The case is Skinner v. Seitzer, 09-9000.

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.

FBI Sting Leads To 678 Arrests Across The Nation

A three month investigation lead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lead to the arrests of 678 people with alleged ties to the Mexican drug cartels.  322 of the people arrested had violent criminal histories.  The operation targeted foreign nationals from international gangs that deal with identity theft, fraud, weapons trafficking and drug dealing.  ICE claims that members of these international gangs have committed robberies, murders, assaults and rapes.  164 people were arrested for non drug related violations and immigration violations.  Law enforcement officials seized 86 guns, eight pounds of methamphetamine, 30 pounds of marijuana, one pound of cocaine, $70,000 in cash and two vehicles.  The operation involved at least 173 law enforcement agencies.

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.

UPDATE: Student Sues FBI For Tracking Device

On October 11, 1010, we reported about the interesting case involving Yasir Afifi.  A mechanic changing the oil in his car found a device stuck with magnets between his rear wheel and exhaust.  Afifi and the mechanic did not know what this device was so he took photographs of the device and posted them on the internet hoping someone would identify what the device was.  Two days later, agents wearing bullet proof vests pulled him over as he was leaving his apartment, and demanded that he return their property.  It turns out that the FBI had placed a GPS tracking device on his vehicle.  Afifi is now suing the FBI claiming that his civil rights were violated when the FBI placed a GPS tracking device on his vehicle without a warrant.  Afifi travels frequently to the Middle East. has brothers who live in Egypt, and his father was a well known Arab community activist before he died last year.  U.S. courts are split over whether the FBI needs a warrant to put a GPS tracking device on someone's vehicle without a warrant.  Afifi's lawyers claim that one of the reasons for filing the lawsuit is to have the question of whether something like this can happen without a warrant can finally be resolved once and for all.

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.

Man Serves 17 Years For Rape Is Exonerated

George Rodriguez was convicted of rape in 1987 after a Texas jury found him guilty.  In 2004, a Texas appeals court ordered that he be released after they found that the scientific evidence that was used at his trial was faulty.  The prosecutor declined to retry Rodriguez claiming that they did not want the victim to be put through the ordeal of having to testify again.  The prosecutor's office dismissed the charges against Rodriguez and he petitioned the governor's office for a pardon.  Texas prosecutors objected to Rodriguez's request for a pardon and Rodriguez demanded that a DNA test of the evidence be conducted.  In 2009 a new prosecutor took office and she agreed to conduct the new DNA test.  Last month the DNA results came back and conclusively cleared Rodriguez of any involvement in the rape.  In response, the prosecutor's office has asked that a judge formally find Rodriguez not guilty of the rape.  Rodriguez served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.  There's another case involving the same prosecutor in which a man who is currently serving 60 years for a rape requested a DNA test which has linked another individual, who had long been considered an alternate suspect to the rape.  The alternate suspect is now deceased.

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.