OUR BLOG

People v. Davis, 2019 IL App (1st) 181492 (September 23, 2019) Cook Co., 1st (Modified upon denial of rehearing.) Div. (HYMAN) Affirmed. Defendant was charged with several firearm offenses, after officers found a firearm under driver's seat of while conducting an inventory search upon impounding ...

People v. Eubanks, 2019 IL 123525 (December 5, 2019) Cook Co. (THOMAS)  Appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part; circuit court affirmed in part and reversed in part; remanded. Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of 1st degree murder, failure to report an accident involving de...

Victoria Zetwick is a correctional officer with Yolo County, California. In 1999 Edward Prieto was selected as the county sheriff, and introduced himself to the correctional staff and hugged all of the female officers, Zetwick included. Zetwick contends that from 1999-2012, Prieto subjected her t...

Civil lawsuits alleging misconduct by law enforcement are nothing new; however, many things have changed, specifically with the particularized defense and the increased number of filings. Anyone paying attention is keenly aware of the significant upsurge of new civil rights lawsuits, commonly ref...

People v. Lee, 2018 IL App (3d) 170209 (February 5, 2018) Henry Co. (SCHMIDT) Affirmed. Court properly granted Defendants' motions to quash arrest and supnews evidence. Officer had probable cause to stop vehicle for failure to signal a lane change. Officer yelled “hey, no talking” at Defendants, ...

On March 20, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in People v. Melongo that struck down Illinois' eavesdropping statue on constitutional grounds.  The Court found that the Illinois' eavesdropping law making it a felony to record conversations without the consent of all part...

As we ring in 2018 it is important that we are familiar with the new changes to the law. The legislature has implemented dozens of new laws and has revised some current laws. Below are list of some of the more relevant laws implemented. However, before we get to legislative changes, the Illinois ...

In United States v. Gomez, 16-181-cr (Parker, Wesley, and Droney), the Second Circuit found that the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights were violated during a five-minute traffic stop because the police officers extended the stop for reasons unrelated to the defendant's traffic violations. Howev...

Defense attorney Daniel Herbert argues to present a list of 25 witnesses for the defense; nine of those witnesses were allowed. He and police officer Jason Van Dyke appeared in front of Judge Vincent Gaughan on Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago. | Nancy St...

Throughout history, police departments have implemented various crime-fighting strategies to address the erratic nature of crime. In football, a good defensive coordinator will spend countless hours in the film room looking for patterns and tendencies of the opposition before preparing the game-p...

The age of “transparency” is upon us and with it comes certain realities. Governmental agencies have taken a 180º turn with respect to its responses to FOIA requests. For years these agencies served as the definitive gate-keeper and dismissed these requests with a boiler plate version of denials....

A judgment for dissolution of marriage reserved husband's obligation to provide child support and family support of $4,250 per month for four years, when his child support would be based on his salary and statutory guidelines. After four years the amount was not recalculated based on his salary a...

Jason Van Dyke and wife Tiffany leave the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in September. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times By Michael Sneed The Van Dyke file . . . Tiffany Van Dyke — who tells Sneed she hadn't talked to her husband, former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, since his transfer to a mediu...

Police officers are being treated as a sub-class of citizens when it comes to the law. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment provide that no one shall be compelled to be a witness against himself via incriminating statements. Every citizen is aff...

Over the course of the last few weeks one thing has become abundantly clear about Garrity warnings: Court interpretation of Garrity is not clear. In the span of a month I have had a state court rule that statements made to the On Call Incident Commander (OCIC) were Garrity protected but a federal...

Jason Van Dyke listens to arguments. The defense attorneys for Jason Van Dyke unsuccessfully argued that first degree murder charges should be dropped against their client during a hearing at the George Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago Thursday May 25, 2017. | Nancy Stone/Pool/Chicago ...

By David Thomas Law Bulletin staff writer Lawyer Daniel Q. Herbert said he has no trouble placing himself in the shoes of his client Jason Van Dyke — the Chicago police officer facing first-degree murder charges for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald. That's because Herbert, a former cop him...

Chicago police Officer Aldo Brown, left, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on the first day of his excessive force trial Oct. 20, 2015, in Chicago (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) Jason Meisner | Contact Reporter Chicago Tribune October 20, 2015, 6:56 PM The veteran Chicago police officer unloaded...

A federal appeals court's ruling was reversed to the relief of law enforcement throughout the country. The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a “provocation rule” developed by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that gave victims of police shootings an additional route to sue...

In a landmark decision the California Supreme court held that the use of a private cellphone by a public employee can create a public record if the phone was used for work purposes. The case was brought to the California Supreme Court after a citizen requested disclosure of records, including tex...

Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune Steven “Randy” Rueckert, left, and Daniel Herbert, attorneys for Jason Van Dyke, confer with Van Dyke during court Aug. 11, 2017. Van Dyke was at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago for a hearing on the shooting of Laquan McDonald. By: Christy Gutowski...

By Barnini Chakraborty | Fox News Calling the killing “completely unnecessary,” prosecutors on Monday showed 12 jurors video of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times – as opening arguments began in a murder trial that has captivated t...

By  Dan Hinkel Contact Reporter Chicago Tribune New officers stand to receive their certificates at the Chicago Police Department's graduation and promotion ceremony at Navy Pier's Grand Ballroom, Friday, April 8, 2016. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Chicago police rarely weed out recruits, bu...

It's a seller's market in Chicago Home prices in the Chicago metro area rose steadily over the last year or so. Gains are also expected in 2017.. This is based on several forecasts and predictions for the Chicago real estate market in 2017. Median home prices and sales activity both increased in ...

Chicago police Officer William Pruente, center, leaves the Leighton Criminal Court Building with family and supporters Dec. 7, 2016. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) BY Patrick M. O'Connell Chicago Tribune Drawing a distinction between “knowingly false” statements and mistakes, a Cook County j...