Posted on August 26, 2013 in Criminal Defense

In our last post we discussed a Chicago neighborly feud which turned violent one July evening. The feud resulted in one man being sentenced to aggravated battery and sentenced to two years of intense probation.

An appeals court recently reconsidered the case and affirmed the man's conviction. The man alleged that there was not enough evidence to support his conviction because he and his neighbor had drastically different accounts of what happened that evening.

So what happened?

The incident took place on July 13, 2009, on the 10800 block of South Homan Avenue in Chicago.

Version one of events:

According to trial documents, the neighbor, Ken, testified that he was out drinking with his girlfriend Tara. Ken said that he had "less than six drinks" and that he and Tara were not drunk when they returned home.

Upon pulling into his driveway, he noticed that his neighbor Gary was sitting on the porch next door. Gary had two friends with him, a woman and a man.

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 Posted on August 25, 2013 in Criminal Defense

According to Illinois law, selling and distributing any type of alcoholic beverage to anyone under the age of 21 is illegal. Even though it is against the law, many people still serve alcohol to minors without fear of consequence.

If someone chooses to sell, deliver, or serve alcohol to a minor, or to any already-intoxicated person, the penalty is that of a Class A Misdemeanor. This applies to any vendor of alcohol, like bars, or any grocery store, drug store or party store. This penalty includes of fine of at least $500 and a jail sentence of up to one year.

Along with a fine and jail time, a business’s liquor license may also be revoked and/or criminal sanctions can be imposed onto the license, putting restrictions on the license and a “warning.”

This penalty is also for anyone who is over 21 and chooses to purchase alcohol and give it to deliver it to anyone below the age of 21.

Although it is illegal to sell to minors, the minors themselves will also get into trouble for being in possession of alcohol and consuming it. If someone under the age of 21 is in possession of or has consumed alcohol, they have committed a Class C Misdemeanor. If this occurs in a public area, such as a highway or other street, it will be classified as a Class B Misdemeanor.

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 Posted on August 24, 2013 in Criminal Defense

The bond between neighbors is one of the things that makes Chicago such a great place to live. Ties with neighbors create a sense of community and can greatly enrich the quality of a person's life.

Just the opposite is true for strained neighborly relationships. A toxic relationship with a neighbor can be a minor annoyance, at best, or result in serious criminal charges.

One Chicago man was recently convicted of aggravated battery after a feud with his neighbors turned violent. The man was sentenced after a bench trial and was ordered to serve two years of intensive probation.

An appeals court recently upheld the man's conviction, which he challenged based on the sufficiency of the evidence.

The trial documents show that the incident which led to the man's charges occured during the early morning hourys of July 13, 2009 on the 10800 block of South Homan Avenue in Chicago.

That evening the man hosted a BBQ with several friends. He and his friends were sitting outside when his next door neighbor pulled up next door.

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 Posted on August 20, 2013 in Violent Crime

In 2012, a Chicago Tribune investigation uncovered a high number of criminal suspects flee the state of Illinois to avoid sentencing. It is a problem that existed across all levels of law enforcement.

The Tribune found that police departments have allowed over 60 fugitives escape justice when they ran to Mexico. When they submit extradition paperwork it often overwhelms the county officials who need to process these requests. Of the fugitives in Mexico, at the time of their investigation, officials were only seeking the deportation of 12 suspects.

There is also an issue with the judges who held bond hearings. They set low bonds for suspects who were being charged with crimes such as rape and murder. They also were not required to confiscate passports from suspects with dual citizenship. But now Illinois lawmakers have passed a law to limit these avenues for suspects to escape justice.

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 Posted on August 17, 2013 in Divorce

Divorce is never an easy process, but divorces involving spouses filing in different countries can be highly complicated. One recent Illinois case involves a couple who was married in India in early 1999 and moved to Illinois later that year. The couple had a daughter in Illinois and started a company here as well.

The husband alleges that during 2008 and 2009, his wife spent extended periods of time in India. He also alleges that she was living with another man during this time and representing herself as his wife.

The wife returned to Illinois from India on March 10, 2009 and the husband filed for dissolution of his marriage in India on March 14, 2009, alleging adultery and mental cruelty. Two days later the wife filed a petition for divorce in Will County, Illinois. The wife alleged that the couple had irreconcilable differences and also alleged that the husband was mentally cruel.

The husband filed a petition to dismiss the Illinois divorce proceeding arguing that there was already a divorce proceeding in India at the time.

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 Posted on August 17, 2013 in Violent Crime

Over 25 years ago, James Kluppelberg was convicted of setting a deadly fire in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. The home that was burnt contained a woman and her five children. Elva Lupercio, 28, and her children who ranged between 3 and 10 years old, died in their home on the 4400 block of South Hermitage Avenue. After reviewing the scene, investigators determined that the fire was an accident.

Four years after the incident, Kluppelberg was identified as the perpetrator by a man who was arrested for burglary. They booked Kluppelberg and, shortly after, he confessed to the crime. Sentenced to life in prison, he maintained that he was innocent of all wrongdoing.

Kluppelberg was exonerated in 2012 of this crime due to advances in fire sciences. It was also revealed that his confession of guilt was coerced by officers who had beaten Kluppelberg so badly that he started to urinate blood. The man who turned him in was found to be lying in order to receive leniency for his burglary conviction. The police department also withheld information about a drunk woman who started another fire nearby the

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 Posted on August 14, 2013 in White Collar Crime

The white collar community is made up of members of the middle and upper classes that have business-related, salaried jobs.

White collar crimes most often have dishonesty or cheating as their base, as entrepreneurs or other businessmen or women commit nonviolent, illegal activities behind the cover of their legitimate businesses.

Because white collar crimes are nonviolent, they usually have a lesser punishment than other criminal activities, but the punishments often include heavy fines and sometimes jail time.

Although dishonesty in a business setting is the common background for all white collar crimes, this category of criminal activity has a very broad spectrum and is hard to define. In order to avoid allowing loopholes in the law for these well-educated, intelligent criminals, the federal and state governments in America have laws that protect against specific, more common white collar crimes, but also general white collar crime laws to catch everything in one law.

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 Posted on August 11, 2013 in Criminal Defense

Assault and battery is most often heard as a single term and not thought of as two separate criminal offenses, which is what they are. A judge can charge a person with one or the other, although they are typically paired together.

Assault is defined in Illinois lawas, “conduct which places another in reasonable apprehension of receiving battery.”

Battery can be either “conduct causing bodily harm to another person or insulting, provocation or unwanted physical contact with another person.”

The main difference is that assault does not include physical contact or injury to the victim.

Once it is found that someone is guilty of battery, the court must then determine the degree, such as whether or not the crime was aggravated battery, which is more serious. Aggravated assault may be charged if the victim has a serious injury or if the defendant used a deadly weapon.

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 Posted on August 07, 2013 in Criminal Defense

Hearing about people running away from the police or trying to elude the police has become commonplace in today’s headlines. However, according to the Chicago Tribune, Vincent Richardson wanted nothing more than to be the police himself.

He first made headlines a little over four years ago when he passed himself off as a law enforcement officer at the age of 14. He showed up at the police station as if he was reporting to work and he went on patrol with another officer for over 5 hours before he was busted and his civilian status was revealed.

This time, at the age of 19, he walked into a uniform store and identified himself as a police officer that worked in the Englewood neighborhood. He presented his driver’s license and told the clerk that he wanted to try on some cargo shorts as well as checking out some utility belts. When Richardson kept repeating that he was an officer in Englewood, the clerk became suspicious and decided to look him up. He then found, through an Internet search, that he had been arrested before. When police arrived at the scene, they arrested Richardson. Upon his arrest, Richardson stated that he respected the job that the police do and that he never intended to hurt anyone, he only wanted to help.

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 Posted on August 05, 2013 in Criminal Defense

Two drivers were arrested for misdemeanor drunk driving this weekend after a serious car accident on Chicago's Southwest Side. Authorities say that two alleged drunk drivers crashed into eachother on the Stevenson Expressway, near Damen Avenue.

The crash happened shortly after midnight when a driver of a Mercury Sable parked on the expressway. A driver of a Scion TC tried to avoid the parked vehicle but was unable to.

NBC Chicago reports that a passenger in the Scion was injured and taken to John H. Stroger Hospital. A police spokesman told reporters that drugs and alcohol were factors in this crash and that both drivers were charged with misdemeanor DUI.

Drunk driving crashes such as this one are common in Chicago. There are multiple ways that a driver can defend themselves against misdemeanor drunk driving charges including demonstrating that police officers improperly administered a breath test or that the breath test equipment was faulty.

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