Recent Blog Posts
Juvenile Offenders: Wearing Restraints During Court Appearances in Illinois
All too many Illinois juveniles end up in the hands of the law after committing minor offenses. A minor might get caught in possession of marijuana, or prescription drugs, or might get arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Minors often wind up in trouble for theft and are charged with shoplifting, robbery and criminal trespassing.
Minors who are arrested and charged with these offenses have to be booked in to jail and then make an appearance in court. Juveniles who are charged with offenses need to get in touch with an experienced criminal defense attorney who has experience in juvenile matters.
One of the most upsetting and often embarrassing aspects of a juvenile’s court appearance for a criminal matter is having to appear before ajudge in shackles. For nearly 30 years it has been customary for juveniles to wear restraints when making a court appearance, regardless of the nature oftheir alleged crime. The thought process behind this protocol is that it promotes courtroom safety and can protect the juvenile from hurting themselves and others. Minors often feel intimidated and humiliated by the experience, and what makes it worse is if the accused minor is actually innocent.
Homes and Cars Are Not the Only Places That Can be Burglarized
The word burglary often brings to mind amasked person stealing money from a bank, breaking into a car, or stealing money, jewelry, or other property from a home. However, under Illinois law,burglary can occur in many other places. To limit your understanding of the crime of burglary to only homes and cars would be overly narrow and inaccurate.
Elements of the Crime of Burglary
It is considered burglary to break into and enter a place without permission, such as trailers, buildings, and motor vehicles. But burglary also includes other transportation vehicles, such as watercraft and aircraft, with the intent to commit theft of any other felony offense. When the location that is broken into is a home or other dwelling, i.e., a place where someone sleeps, it is considered residential burglary.
Burglary is not limited tophysical breaking into a new building or vehicle. You do not have to force open a lock or break a window to gain access to abuilding or vehicle in order to constitute an entering for the purposes of burglary. Other ways of gaining entry into a building or vehicle mayinclude:
Dividing Marital Property in an Illinois Divorce
It is a trope often repeated in movies, television shows, and popular music. When a couple gets divorced, everyone “knows” that each spouse gets half of all of the couple’s property, including the assets that each person had coming into the marriage—unless, of course, the couple had a prenup. This well-known “fact,” however, is not a fact at all, at least not in the state of Illinois. In some states, marital property is divided exactly in half—though what constitutes marital still does not usually include previously-owned assets. In Illinois, the laws regarding property division in divorce are based on the principles of equitable distribution, meaning that each spouse receives part of the marital estate but not necessarily in equal proportions.
Equal is Not Always Fair
The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides that when a divorcing couple cannot agree on how to divide their marital property, the court will allocate their assets and debts in a manner that is fair and just. Nowhere in the law is there a guarantee that the split should be 50/50. Instead, the court will examine the circumstances of the marriage and of each party to determine how much of the marital estate each spouse should receive to ensure that neither is placed at an unnecessary financial disadvantage.
What Offenses Can Lead to Driver’s License Suspension in Illinois?
Being able to drive in Illinois is a privilege, not a right. In order to drive in Illinois, individuals must obtain a driver’s license, and then must obey the rules of the road in order to keep their driver’s license. Committing traffic violations and criminal offenses can lead to the suspension or revocation of a person’s driver’s license. A driver’s license suspension means that your driving privileges are temporarily suspended for a period of time and/or until you pay a required fee. A driver’s license revocation is the termination of your driving privileges indefinitely with no guarantee that you can get them reinstated.
What Offenses Can Lead to a Driver’s License Suspension?
Having your driver’s license suspended can be a major inconvenience. Additionally, you may be required to pay a reinstatement fee in order to get the suspension removed from your driver’s license. There are certain requirements that must be satisfied in order to seek the reinstatement of your driver’s license, and an experienced driver’s license reinstatement lawyer can advise you on what you need to do.
Choosing a DUI Defense Lawyer: What You Should Know
If you are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs or alcohol in Illinois, it is critically important that you fight the criminal charges that are pending against you. In order to do that, you will need an experienced DUI criminal defense attorney by your side fighting for you the whole way. These are important charges that you need to get reduced or dismissed—the consequences of being convicted for a DUI are life-altering and long-lasting. At worst, a lawyer can simply ensure that you receive fair treatment under the law. Consider the followingwhen looking for a DUI defense attorney.
An Attorney Who is Qualified and Experienced
If you have been charged with a DUI, it is important to hire an attorney who is experienced in handling DUI defenses just like yours. An experienced DUI criminal defense attorney will know the specifics of the law, will understand the criminal court system, and will listen to you as you explain what happened that caused you to get arrested. The outcome of your defense will impact your life in a big way. Do not put your fate into the hands of an inexperienced attorney.
Defenses to Speeding Charges
Many people have been guilty of speeding at some point in time when they are behind the wheel of a vehicle. Sometimes it happens on accident, while other times adriver purposefully means to exceed the posted speed limit. However, ifyou are caught speeding by Illinois law enforcement, aticket for violating the state’s speeding laws will be issued to you.
Receivinga traffic ticket can adversely affect you if you admit your guilt to your traffic offense. For instance, if you go to the courthouse and immediately pay your ticket without fighting it in traffic court, you effectively have made an admission that you are guilty of the speeding charge.
Admitting guilt for a traffic violation can result in the addition of points to your driver’s license. If you accumulate too many points, then serious consequences can result. Too many points can mean that your license will be suspended, which will make traveling more difficult for you without the ability to drive. Ultimately, much is at stake when you are issued a traffic ticket for speeding. Hence, it is important that you fight your speeding ticket. With the help of an experienced Illinois traffic offenses defense attorney it might be possible to get your charges reduced or dismissed altogether.
Evidence in Your DUI Case: Breathalyzer Testing Results Invalid
When a person is stopped by law enforcement for a traffic violation, and the officer who made the traffic stop develops a reasonable suspicion that the driver of the vehicle is intoxicated by alcohol, the police officer can request that the suspected drunk driver submit to a breathalyzer test.
A breathalyzer test is a chemical test that analyzes the amount of alcohol on a person’s breath and then determines whether the person has a blood alcohol concentration that is over the legal limit of 0.08. Under Illinois implied consent law, drivers are required to submit to a breathalyzer test upon a police officer’s request or else face consequences, such as the automatic suspension of their driver’s license. But remember: you do have the right to refuse to submit to a breathalyzer test.
Even if you are pulled over and you do submit to breathalyzer testing, there are many things that could render your breathalyzer testing results invalid. It is well established that breathalyzer tests are not foolproof and there can be any number of procedural mistakes that could make your test results invalid. Invalid breathalyzer test results cannot be used against you in a DUI case against you. A few examples of things that can make your breathalyzer test results invalid include:
What Are My Rights to My Grandchildren?
If your child has recently gone through a divorce, you are likely wondering how his or her parenting arrangements for his or her children will affect you and your time with your grandchildren. You might be wondering what rights you have to spend time with your grandchildren and whether or not time with you is considered as part of their custody arrangement.
The short answer to your questions is this: unless you have court-ordered guardianship of your grandchild or grandchildren, your child and his or her former spouse are not legally required to have their child spend time with you. However, if you are routinely denied the opportunity to spend time with your grandchild, you may file a petition to have the court grant you visitation rights with your grandchild. Visitation rights are written into the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act along with other laws related to a child’s well-being.
DUIs: Substantially Worse if a Child is in the Vehicle
Illinois has strict laws when it comes to driving under the influence of alcohol. Driving under the influence is defined by 625 ILCS 5/11-501 as occurring when a person is operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, which can be shown if his or her blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 or more.
Law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts take DUI offenses very seriously. Moreover, they levy the harshest criminal charges that they can justify against analleged drunk driver. However, whenchildren are involved in a DUI, punishment can become substantially worse for the accused drunk driver.
Not only is your driver’s license automatically suspended when you are arrested for DUI, but you also face a misdemeanor charge for a first time offense, presuming that there are no aggravating factors involved in your DUI. If there are aggravating factors, your offense could be upgraded to a felony DUI offense.
How Far Can Illinois Drug Asset Forfeiture Reach?
Begin caught while committing a drug offense and/or being charged with a drug offense is tough in its own right. You will need to hire a criminal defense lawyer and go to court, and you can potentially face jail time, fines, probation, and a criminal record that will be with you for a long time. Additionally,the police can take your personal property if it is associated with the drug offense, such as your car, money, or other belongings.
Illinois Drug Asset Forfeiture Laws Are Far-Reaching
Illinois has certainaggressive and broad drug asset forfeiture laws. Under Illinois drug asset forfeiture laws, any property that is associated with criminal drug activity can be seized by the police. This causes many problems for people who own property that was taken into custody by police. These laws do not distinguish between the person who allegedly committed a crime and who actually owns the property. Moreover,the laws extend to other items that may have been purchased with money associated with a crime. Finally, the property is not automatically released if the charges against the alleged offender are dropped.
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At Cosley Law Office, we represent clients in Illinois, including the cities of Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Buffalo Grove, Barrington, Elk Grove Village, Inverness, Wheeling, Long Grove and Mundelein, as well as Cook County, Lake County, DuPage County and throughout the Chicago, IL, metropolitan area.
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3030 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 120, Arlington Heights, IL 60005
847-253-3100