Chicago May Impound Vehicles Driven By Suspended Motorists

Today, the Chicago City Council's Police and Traffic Committee approved an ordinance that would require that vehicles driven by drivers pulled over for driving on a suspended or revoked license be impounded.   The procedure for dealing with impounded vehicles would be the same as for any other reason that the city impounds vehicles.  This is not the first time such an ordinance was proposed.  The previous proposal was defeated because the construction on the Dan Ryan Expressway was not making it possible to have enough room at the city pound for these additional impounds.  The chances for passage are thought to be better this time because the Dan Ryan project has been completed and the overcrowding concerns at the city pound no longer exist.  The entire City Council is expected to take up the measure very shortly.  We will keep our readers informed of any developments.

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.

AMA Changes Stance On Marijuana

On Tuesday the nation's largest group of physicians changed its stance on marijuana.  The American Medical Association urged the federal government to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 controlled substances.  Schedule 1 is the most serious classification for controlled substances.  It includes such dangerous drugs as heroin and LSD.  Since 1997 the AMA has maintained that it should be on the list of Schedule 1 drugs.  The American Medical Association has about 250,000 members.  The AMA has changed their stance on marijuana because they seek to conduct more clinical research on the risks and benefits of marijuana and try to develop medicines based on marijuana.  The change in the AMA's stance is another step in the evolving view of the risks and benefits of marijuana.  We have been reporting on the changes to various state laws which have led to the legalization of medical marijuana in 13 states.  However, the AMA did warn that this change in their stance should not be viewed as endorsement of the legalization of marijuana or support for medical marijuana.  The AMA is not the first major doctors organization to change their position on marijuana.  In 2008, the American College of Physicians, the nation's second largest physician group issued a statement calling for research into the therapeutic uses of marijuana.

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.

Secret Out On How To Beat Speeding Ticket In Chicago

In the past few days, the Chicago newspapers have published articles about how motorists can beat traffic tickets issued by the Chicago police. Let me explain how it works. The vast majority of police departments in Illinois use the LIDAR laser detection device. It's the primary speed detector used by the Chicago Police. It differs from radar in that it uses light detection rather than radio waves. However, in order for the technology to be accepted in Court, the prosecution is required to conduct a "Frye" hearing in which the prosecutor brings experts to court and proves that the technology is sufficiently reliable that it should be accepted in Court. No such hearing has ever been held when it comes to LIDAR devices. The main reason is that when a defendant challenges the technology and the state gears up to conduct such a hearing, the defendants back out and plead guilty rather than conduct a long and expensive hearing over a simple speeding ticket. As a result, the courts have not accepted the technology and are routinely dismissing tickets generated by the use of the LIDAR devices. However, this has not deterred the City of Chicago from accepting payment of fines from motorists who just mail in their tickets and pay the fine. But for the motorists who show up to Traffic Court, the tickets are just routinely being dismissed when the judge sees that the LIDAR device was used to measure the speed of the motorist.

The lesson is to show up to traffic court rather than to just pay the fine.

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 Prosecutors Immunity

Today, the United States Supreme Court considered a case involving immunity from civil lawsuits against prosecutors who fabricated evidence. The case out of Iowa involves the conviction of 2 men for first degree murder in 1978 and sentenced to life in prison. Both men were released 25 years later after their convictions were thrown out. It turns out that prosecutors failed to reveal to anyone that they suspected another man had committed the murders and intentionally omitted his name from any police reports and failed to inform the defense attorneys that the suspect had failed a lie detector test. Both of the men filed civil lawsuits against the prosecutors claiming that the prosecutors coerced witnesses and created false evidence prior to the trial. However, prosecutors are immune from civil lawsuits based on their work at trial. The 2 men are suing the prosecutors for the work they did prior to the trial. The case involves whether the immunity of prosecutors stretches to work done before trial.

The court is expected to release its decision next year.

The case is Pottawattamie County v. McGhee, 08-1065.

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.

Charges Dismissed Against Ticket Writing Cop

On February 23, 2009 we published a blog about John Haleas, a Chicago police officer charged with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice by lying on police reports regarding arrests for DUI cases. Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Obbish ruled that prosecutors improperly used statements given by Haleas to Internal Affairs investigators during an administrative investigation by the Chicago Police Department. There is a Supreme Court case specifically on point which prohibits prosecutors from using statements given in an administrative proceeding in a subsequent criminal proceeding. Haleas had no choice but to give the statements to the investigators in the internal affairs investigation. The prosecutor who had been working on the case testified that he was careful to keep the statements given in the administrative investigation and the criminal investigation separate but this was not able to be verified because the prosecutors office lost the file.

Haleas had been given awards for being the most prolific enforcer of DUI laws when he led the state in the number of arrests. According to prosecutors Haleas failed to perform field sobriety tests and lied in his police reports.

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.

Expansion of Medical Marijuana Passes in Maine

Yesterday, Maine voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure expanding the medical marijuana laws in the State of Maine. The measure passed by a 59 to 41 percent margin. The measure would create dispensaries to disperse marijuana and increase the number of ailments eligible for a prescription. Most of Maine's newspaper editorial boards opposed the measure on the basis that the lack of oversight of the dispensaries would create problems for law enforcement. The passage of this measure bodes well for a measure that may be placed on the 2010 ballot which would decriminalize marijuana in Maine.

Maine becomes the fifth state to allow for dispensaries to distribute medical marijuana. In the recent months the federal government has announced that federal agents will stop raiding local marijuana dispensaries and distributors so long as state law allows for their existence and operation.

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.