Posted on December 29, 2020 in Underage Drinking

Although this New Year’s Eve will likely include fewer social gatherings than in years past due to the pandemic, it is common for minors to engage in underage drinking at this time of year, either with or without their parents’ knowledge. While this may seem innocent enough, underage drinking often has serious legal and personal consequences that can affect a teenager or young person for the rest of their life.

Consequences of Underage Drinking in Illinois

In Illinois, underage drinking is a serious offense; in fact, while it is not a felony, it is a misdemeanor, carrying with it possible penalties including jail time and substantial fines. In addition, Illinois has a "Zero Tolerance" policy for underage drinking and driving. If a person under the age of 21 is caught on the road driving with any alcohol in their system, even if they are below the legal blood alcohol content limit for adults, they can face serious consequences, including getting their driving privileges revoked for two years at minimum. In some cases, underage drinking and an accompanying charge or conviction can also have far-reaching effects on a teenager’s future, including:

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 Posted on December 22, 2020 in Traffic violations

In Illinois, if you drive a truck or other commercial vehicle, you must possess a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in addition to a personal driver’s license. Both to earn your CDL and to keep your CDL, you need to meet higher standards than the average driver. The same goes for the laws that you must abide by, and as a result, many commercial driver’s license violations are not as easy to handle as a typical traffic violation. In fact, serious commercial driver’s license violations in Illinois like commercial driver’s license DUI, aggravated speeding, reckless driving, and even failure to report violations from other states can lead to not only driver’s license suspension but also much more serious penalties.

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 Posted on December 15, 2020 in Fraud

In Illinois, in its simplest terms, forgery can be understood as the knowing and willful falsification of signatures, documents, or objects. Once such items are falsified, the charges can be compounded by the propagation of these false items or other defrauding activities that lead to another individual or organization being misrepresented or losing something valuable, money or otherwise. Forgery and other deceptive practices are quite common, mainly because they can run the gamut, comprising a wide variety of defrauding actions.

Common Acts of Forgery and Illegal Deception

Among the many examples of forgery and other deceptive practices in Illinois are:

1. Forged checks—If you sign someone else’s name on their check without their knowledge or approval, you are committing fraud.

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 Posted on December 08, 2020 in Domestic Violence

With lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic having occurred throughout the country, and indeed the entire world, there has been an uptick in domestic violence as partners and families are spending more time in close quarters. Recently, November 25 marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with protests in countries around the world attempting to raise awareness of this important issue.

With tensions running high during this time, you may also be more likely to face allegations of domestic violence that you believe to be unfounded. If so, an attorney can help you protect your rights and develop a defense strategy through which your perspective can be heard. Know that an accusation does not necessarily have to result in a criminal conviction.

Responding to Allegations of Domestic Violence in Illinois

Here are some suggestions to guide you through any possible domestic violence charges you might face when staying at home during the pandemic:

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 Posted on November 24, 2020 in Search Warrant

If the police find evidence of illegal drugs on your person or property, you may be at high risk of a conviction on drug charges. However, if that evidence was obtained through an illegal search and seizure, your attorney can help you stand up for your rights and fight for that evidence to be excluded, which may help you avoid a sentence. There are several ways in which a search and seizure can be unlawful, and your lawyer will help you determine if any of them is a factor in your case.

How the Fourth Amendment Addresses Illegal Search and Seizure

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that "the people have a right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." According to the Fourth Amendment, for a search and seizure to be legal, the officers must either have your permission to search your home, your vehicle, your person, or your other property, or they must have a judge-approved warrant to search those same places.

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 Posted on November 19, 2020 in Traffic violations

While both aggravated speeding and reckless driving are more than minor traffic violations, they are still separate and different charges, each carrying with them relatively severe penalties. In some cases, the two can be compounded with other charges, making for an especially challenging case to manage and difficult punishments to handle.

What Is Aggravated Speeding?

Speeding may seem like a minor and oftentimes innocuous traffic violation, at least relative to other dangerous behaviors, but there are instances when speeding is not simply a minor infraction. As speed increases, it can become more and more dangerous, and excessive speeds can result in aggravated speeding charges under Illinois law.

According to state law, aggravated speeding occurs when the driver is speeding above the local limit by 26 miles per hour or more. In cases of 26 mph to 34 mph above the limit, the crime is considered a Class B misdemeanor by Illinois law, and in cases when the speeding is 35 mph or more above the speed limit, it is considered the more severe Class A misdemeanor.

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 Posted on November 16, 2020 in Theft

If you are accused of burglary, which is considered a felony in Illinois carrying with it harsh penalties, defending your case can be challenging. The prosecution will likely muster all available evidence in an attempt to establish your guilt. However, a skilled defense attorney can help you protect your rights and work to ensure a fair legal process so that you have a chance of avoiding unnecessary penalties. Depending on the situation, here are some defense strategies that your attorney could use.

1: Challenge Assertions of Intent

In Illinois, burglary is defined as unlawfully entering or remaining on a property with the intent to commit a felony or theft. Your attorney may be able to help you avoid a burglary conviction by challenging the prosecution’s attempts to establish your intent. If this strategy is successful, your charges may be dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense like criminal trespassing.

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 Posted on November 05, 2020 in Drug Crimes

Especially during these times of pandemic anxiety, many people may look for ways to relax in the form of opioids and other prescription drugs. You might think this is not a crime because the drugs are not illegal, but if you yourself do not have a prescription for those drugs and yet still possess, use, distribute, or sell them, you may be charged with a drug crime in Illinois. Here are the types of drugs and their possession consequences.

Types of Prescription Drugs You Cannot Possess without a Prescription

Before the COVID-19 pandemic even arrived in the United States, there was an epidemic of another kind destroying lives: the opioid epidemic. And while the focus these days is primarily on the virulent pandemic, illegal prescription drug use, abuse, possession, sale, and distribution are all common, possibly even more so, during these difficult times.

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 Posted on October 30, 2020 in Felonies

While there are many similarities between a misdemeanor and a felony, the single most central commonality being the fact that they are both categories of criminal offenses in the Illinois justice system with which you can be charged, there are major contrasts that can mean the difference between not much time in jail and low fines to major prison time and substantial fines. Here is a closer look at the differences between felonies and misdemeanors in Illinois.

Definitions and Examples

Ultimately, the primary difference between a misdemeanor and a felony is the severity of the crime. The Illinois criminal justice system views certain crimes as less serious than other crimes, which is why they are separated into these two categories and then delineated into different classes with different penalties (shown below). The following is true of misdemeanors and felonies in Illinois:

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 Posted on October 28, 2020 in Traffic violations

Of all the traffic violations you might face in Illinois, reckless driving is one of the most severe since it can lead to a Class A misdemeanor, requiring you to pay up to $2,500 in fines and to spend up to a whole year in jail. In addition, reckless driving charges might also include other charges, such as DUI. The purpose of laws like those surrounding reckless driving is to keep the roads safe for all motorists and pedestrians. So, what happens when you think you are keeping people safe by wearing a mask due to COVID-19 despite operating a motor vehicle? Doing this brings with it a host of problematic scenarios illustrated here.

Why Wearing a Mask While Driving Could Get You Pulled Over

As difficult as it might be to believe, people have gotten into car accidents while wearing masks as of late due to the pandemic. In many of those cases, the safety of the driver was the greatest concern as it seemed the mask might have triggered a health problem. But that does not mean that there is no possibility you might get pulled over for driving recklessly if you are wearing a mask. Here are some of the ways a mask can interfere with your driving and cause you to seemingly drive recklessly:

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