Chicago Criminal Defense Blog

Criminal Defense
March 10th, 2017

New Illinois Law Allows Expungement Even If Previously Convicted of a Crime

You were arrested, charged, or cited with a criminal offense, whether it was a felony or misdemeanor, in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois. You appeared in court, and the charges were either dismissed, you were found not guilty after a trial, or perhaps you received a sentence of court supervision, or some expungeable form of...

Read More
Criminal Defense
March 6th, 2017

Warm Car Leaves Driver Cold

In Michigan, a man starts his car in his driveway, and goes inside for a few minutes while the engine and vehicle interior “warmed up”. He comes out five minutes later, to see a $128.00 ticket for leaving his vehicle unattended, with the engine running, and the keys in the ignition. Outraged, he posted the...

Read More
Criminal Defense
March 3rd, 2017

Failing to Pull over for Police Never a Good Choice

A 59-year-old lady is alleged to have made a very bad series of decisions while driving through the far west suburbs of Chicago. When Elburn, Illinois police officers attempted to stop her vehicle early Sunday morning for an undisclosed violation, it is alleged that she refused to stop, and sped away. The Elburn police called...

Read More
Criminal Defense
March 1st, 2017

Zoo Trespasser Seals His Own Fate

A young man, intent on getting a really good picture of the seals at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, violated all common sense by climbing over the fence that surrounds the seal pool, an act which is not only discouraged by Zoo personnel, but is against the law, as he found out. When confronted by Zoo...

Read More
Criminal Defense
February 27th, 2017

18 Year Old Crashes Stolen Car in Portage Park

An 18-year-old Chicago area woman was charged recently with vehicular hijacking following an incident that occurred in the Portage Park neighborhood. It seems a man left his vehicle unattended, with the engine running and the keys in the ignition, while the engine was warming up at about 8:30 a.m. According to the news story, an...

Read More
Criminal Defense
February 24th, 2017

22 Years in Prison for Stealing a Remote Control

In Du Page County Illinois, a Judge sentenced a man to serve 22 years in prison for stealing a remote control device from a common area of an apartment complex. While that may seem to be not even remotely fair on its face, this case is an excellent example of how extended sentencing works, and...

Read More
Criminal Defense
February 21st, 2017

Parents Charged in Death of Infant

A married couple, with 9 children from a small town in Illinois, are facing felony charges of involuntary manslaughter, one count of felony child endangerment, and 9 counts of misdemeanor child endangerment, following an incident that resulted in the death of their infant. According to the police department, the family was living in horrific conditions;...

Read More
Gun Crimes
February 20th, 2017

Chicago Employs New Technology to Curb Violence

It’s been national news for some time now that Chicago has been plagued by shootings and weapon related murders. But recently, the Chicago Police and the Mayor’s office revealed that they have employed new technology to combat gun violence in some of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods. “Shotspotter” gunshot detection technology has been installed in various...

Read More
Traffic Violation
January 18th, 2017

“What to do When Stopped by Police” Now Part of Driver’s Education

In recent years, much controversy has occurred over encounters between law enforcement and civilians during traffic stops. The officers expect compliance with their requests and their demands, but sometimes civilians may not comply as readily as the officers would like. Tempers can flare and a routine stop can become elevated into a more serious encounter....

Read More
Written by Mitchell S. Sexner Last Updated : August 4, 2020