Illegal Immigrant Population Declined Last Year

The United States Department of Homeland Security released a report today which estimates that the total number of illegal immigrants living in the United States fell to 10.8 million during the year ending January of 2009.  This figure represents a seven percent decline from 11.6 million in January of 2008.  The 10.8 million figure is the smallest number of illegal immigrants since 2005 when there were an estimated 10.5 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.  A Pew Hispanic Center report released in July of 2009 seems to suggest that the decline is attributable to decreased numbers of immigrants coming into the United States rather than illegal immigrants leaving the United States and going back into Mexico.  While the recession has played a role in the decreased number of illegal immigrants, it is not yet clear to what extent the recession has impacted these figures.

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.

Ex-Niles Cop Charged With Stealing From Dead Man's Room

An ex-Niles police officer has been accused of stealing about $1,700 from a dead man's YMCA room.  William Christie surrendered to police today and appeared at the Skokie Courthouse for a bond hearing.  He is charged with theft and official misconduct.  In November of 2009, Christie responded to a call of a man found dead in a YMCA.  Christie sealed off the room and informed personnel at the YMCA that they could not enter the room.  Over the next few days he entered the room numerous times.  This made the YMCA personnel suspicious and they contacted the Niles police.  Apparently, the Niles police placed a camera in the room which showed Christie stealing cash and putting it in a cardboard box.  Bank records from Christie's credit union account show that on the day he was taped putting the money in a cardboard box he deposited about $500 in coins into his bank account.  Shortly after the man died, Christie contacted the victim's only survivor, his sister, and offered to clean out the room for her.  He ended up sending her $274 claiming that this amount represented all the money he recovered from the room.

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.

Criminal Charges Will Not Be Brought Against Cop Accused Of False DUI Arrests

The Cook County States Attorney's Office has decided not to file criminal charges against Chicago police officer Richard Fiorito.  We first reported about Officer Fiorito in a post published on October 6, 2009.  Officer Fiorito is the subject of several federal lawsuits claiming he made up evidence that motorists he was arresting were driving under the influence of alcohol.  Our post of October 6, 2009 detailed how a video of an arrest made by Fiorito showed that the driver was not intoxicated and that Fiorito had falsely arrested the motorist.  On Tuesday the Cook County State's Attorney decided not to file any criminal charges against Fiorito claiming that they did not have sufficient evidence to convict him of any crimes.  On November 17, 2009 we published another post about Officer Fiorito.  In that post we gave credit to the Cook County State's Attorney, Anita Alvarez, for doing the right thing and dismissing DUI charges against many motorists who had been arrested by Fiorito.  It is hard to understand how the same State's Attorney who decided to drop DUI charges against motorists arrested by Fiorito determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge him with any crimes.  Some things just don't make sense.

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.

Evidence Recovered From Raid Of Harvey Police Department Leads To Charges

In 2007, the Cook County States Attorney, State of Illinois Police and The Cook County Sheriff's Department raided the Village of Harvey police station in search of lost evidence of serious crimes that had gone unsolved for years.  Approximately 200 rape kits were recovered from the basement of the police station.  None of the rape kits recovered had been tested.  One of the rape kits recovered led to charges in a rape that occurred in 2004.  The DNA recovered from that rape kit led to a hit in a national computer database.  The individual, currently in custody on an unrelated drug charge, was brought to Cook County where bond was set at $1.5 million.  The individual arrested has an extensive criminal record having previously been convicted of weapon and drug charges.  The evidence seized from the raids of the Harvey police station has already lead to dozens of arrests and charges in murder cases, shootings and rape cases.

At least one investigator continues to work on the evidence seized from the raids.

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 Stresses Importance Of Open Criminal Trials

Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision stressing the importance of criminal trials being open to the public throughout all its stages.  A per curiam decision is one that is based on written pleadings without any oral arguments being heard.  The case involved Eric Presley, who was convicted of trafficking cocaine in Georgia.  He challenged his conviction on the basis that the public, namely his uncle, were excluded from the courtroom during the jury voir dire process.  The judge believed that there was not enough room in the courtroom and did not want his uncle sitting next to a juror and possibly tainting the jury.  The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the conviction but was divided on the issue.  The United States Supreme Court disagreed and ruled that the trial court had an affirmative duty to seek alternatives to preserve the notion of open trials.  They stated that the public has a First Amendment right to have access to the court proceedings and the defendant had a Sixth Amendment right to a public jury selection.  The court held that "trial courts are obligated to take every reasonable measure to accommodate public attendance at criminal trials."    They also stated that "the public has the right to be present whether or not any party has asserted the right."  The dissent, lead by Justice Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, criticized the majority for deciding the issue without hearing oral arguments.

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.

Moving Into 21st Century - Chicago Police To Text And Email Alerts

The Chicago Police have announced that they have set up a service that sends text messages and email alerts from everything to child abductions to traffic jams.  The City signed up with Nixle, a free service that sends text messages and email messages to registered users.  The service went live in Chicago on Sunday.  About 6,000 people had signed up for the service by the time it went live yesterday.  Users can sign up to receive messages for their neighborhood, their child's school, or citywide.  The messages may also include photographs, such as for alerts involving missing persons or abducted children.  Roughly 3,600 police departments and public service agencies have signed up with Nixle since it started last year.  Last year the Chicago Police launched their own Facebook page called Blog 501.

To sign up to this service please click here.

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 Dumps Confrontation Clause Case Without Fanfare

On Monday, the Supreme Court sent the case of Briscoe v. Virginia back to Virginia without comment.  This is an interesting development because they agreed to hear this case so soon after issuing a decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts.  On June 29, 2009 we published a blog discussing this interesting development.  In Briscoe the Court ruled that defendants have a constitutional right to cross examine lab technicians who prepare lab reports in drug cases.  The ruling was based on the Sixth Amendment right to confront your accusers.  About a week later, the Supreme Court decided to accept the appeal in Briscoe which essentially dealt with the same issue as in Melendez-Diaz.  The question in Briscoe was whether the state could produce a certificate of a lab technician instead of being required to call him to testify in court.  Court watchers were left scratching their heads when the court agreed to hear Briscoe.  The Supreme Court actually heard oral arguments on Briscoe on January 11, but on Monday, the sent the case back to Virginia.  This decision leaves the precedent in Melendez-Diaz intact and leaves the issue settled.

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.