Violent Crime Rate Drops Nationally

Despite fears that the declining economy would cause an increase in the violent crime rate, statistics released by the FBI seem to suggest otherwise.  The statistics seem to suggest that the violent crime rate may be dropping for the third year in a row.  The statistics measure the crime rate for the first 6 months of the year, so they are not complete yet.  The number of murders fell 10 percent, robbery fell by 6.5 percent and rapes declined by 3.3 percent.  Overall, the violent crime rate fell by 1.8 percent from 2008 to 2007.  New York and Los Angeles saw a drop in their murder rate while Detroit saw an increase.  Incidentally, property crimes are also decreasing.  Vehicle thefts decreased by 18.7 percent and burglary fell by 2.5 percent.  Overall, the property property crime rate dropped by 6.1 percent.  The violent crime rate dropped in all four regions of the United States with the exception of the South which saw a tiny increase of 0.7 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 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Juveniles And Life In Prison

Today the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case involving whether it is constitutional to sentence juveniles convicted of crimes not involving murder to life in prison. We first discussed this in a post we published on May 10, 2009. The case before the court involves two juveniles sentenced to life in prison in Florida. The first case involves Joe Sullivan convicted of raping a woman in 1989 when he was just 13 years old. His attorneys have described Sullivan as being mentally retarded. The second case involves Terrance Graham who started serving a life sentence in 2005 for his role in an armed robbery when he was 17 years old. At the time of the armed robbery, he was on parole for a robbery. There are currently 109 teenagers serving life in prison. Roughly 84 percent of those juveniles are African American while only 13 percent of the U.S. population are African American. There are about 2,500 prisoners serving life in prison for crimes that were committed when they were teenagers. Other than Israel, the United States is the only country that routinely sentences juveniles to life in prison. Opponents of this practice are urging the Supreme Court to adopt the same reasoning it adopted in 2005 when it found the imposition of the death penalty against juveniles to be unconstitutional.

The cases are Sullivan v. Florida, 08-7621 and Graham v. Florida, 08-7412.

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 Allows Jailhouse Informant to Testify

The Supreme Court allowed a jailhouse informant to testify for impeachment purposes even though the statements made were illegally obtained. Donny Ray Ventris and Rhonda Theel were charged by Kansas prosecutors with the murder of Ernest Hicks. Theel pled guilty to robbery and agreed to testify against Ventris in exchange for having the murder charges dropped against her. At trial, Ventris testified that Theel was the shooter and was solely responsible for the murder. Police had placed a confidential informant in the jail cell next to Ventris when he was in custody after the murder. Ventris had told the confidential informant that he had shot Hicks in the head, stolen his wallet and $350 and taken his car. The state used the testimony of the confidential informant to impeach Ventris. Ventris was eventually convicted of Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Burglary. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the testimony of the confidential informant could not be used because Ventris had not been read his Miranda warnings prior to being questioned by the state's confidential informant. The United States Supreme Court disagreed and ruled that the testimony of the confidential informant could be used only for impeachment purposes. The Court ruled that the state could not use the informant's testimony in their case in chief, but only for impeachment purposes.

This was a 7 to 2 decision. The dissenting Justices were Stevens and Ginsburg.

The case is Kansas v. Ventris, 07-1356.

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.

Would Be Robber Walks When Store Owner Fails to Show Up In Court

Earlier this year, Efrain S. Castanon walked into a Crystal Lake store with three other men armed with a gun and tied up the store owner, Rafael Diaz and his wife while robbing them. Rafael Diaz broke free from the restraints, retrieved a handgun he kept hidden in the store, and chased the robbers out the store firing shots in their direction as they fled down a busy Route 14. Two of the robbers fled and were never found. Efrain S. Castanon was found and charged with Attempted Armed Robbery, Attempted Aggravated Robbery and Attempted Robbery. These are all Class 1 felonies and he was facing up to 15 years in prison. Because Rafael Diaz fired a gun at the men as they fled down busy Route 14, Rafael Diaz was charged with Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, a felony that was more serious than the charges faced by Castanon. Diaz posted $10,000 in bond money and has not been seen since. The case was set for trial on Monday in McHenry County, and prosecutors were forced to reduce the charges faced by Castanon and he received probation. The prosecutors informed the Judge that Diaz had fled the jurisdiction and was unavailable to testify. There is an outstanding warrant for Rafael Diaz. Efrain Castanon is still locked up in the McHenry County Jail because of a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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.