Live Facebook broadcasting of police officers shooting unarmed victims, photos posted to twitter revealing police brutality at peaceful protests, and cell phone videos that make their way onto other social media platforms of officers beating and kicking unarmed African Americans has brought much of the nation’s attention to the seemingly growing problem of police misconduct. Or has the problem always been there and we just have not taken notices?
If you have been harassed, harmed, assaulted, or otherwise mistreated by a law enforcement agency in any way, do not hesitate to contact the experienced Chicago civil rights violation attorneys of Barney and Hourihane today at 312-854-0906 for immediate assistance. NYC Stop and Frisk Operations to Reveal no Change in Racial Discrimination in Last 13 Years There are many examples to look at when examining racial profiling and discrimination within the U.S. One needs only look at the rate of incarceration that blacks face compared to whites. Median income levels, number of elected positions within government, and level of education are all disproportionately skewed in favor of whites as well, and they have been for much longer than social media has been around. However, one of the most easily recognizable forms of discrimination is Chicago’s stop and frisk program. 72 percent of all Chicago stop and frisks were performed on blacks and nine percent were performed on whites in 2014, while whites made up 32 percent of Chicago’s population and blacks made up 32 percent as well, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Similar inequality exists in New York, where the stop and frisk program has been going on for a longer period of time and can be examined to see if racial profiling has grown in the past decade or not. In 2003, 54 percent of all stop and frisks were performed on blacks, 32 percent on Latinos, and 12 percent on whites. Fast forward 13 years and again in 2015, 54 percent of all stop and frisks were performed on blacks, 29 percent on Latinos, and just 11 percent on whites, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. The Census reveals that blacks make up just 25.5 percent of New York City’s population, while Latinos make up 28.6 percent, and whites (the majority) account for 44 percent of the population. While the data has existed for decades, police misconduct has only been given the attention that it deserves until recently, and that is because of social media and the growing prevalence of pocketable surveillance equipment: smart phones. Contact an Aggressive Chicago Civil Rights Attorney Immediately for Experienced Counsel Social media has helped refocus dialogue pointing to the huge inequalities that an American faces if his or her skin is not white. Unfortunately, social media has also become an outlet for tactless arguments blaming movements such as Black Lives Matter for the shootings of police officers in Dallas and other areas. Regardless, if you have been the victim of police misconduct, contact Barney and Hourihane today at 312-854-0906. A Chicago police officer who unloaded his gun on a car full of unarmed African American teenagers recently plead not guilty to federal civil rights charges. The 2013 incident was spurred by the teens stealing a car, but the use of deadly fire is being charged at as excessive force by the officer, since no one’s life was in danger from the teens’ actions as they backed up away from his vehicle when he fired sixteen rounds into the car. Two of the teens were injured. The officer in question is facing federal criminal charges, and is the first Chicago officer of the past 15 years and 702 police shootings to face federal criminal charges, according to the Chicago Tribune.
However, this is not the first time this particular officer has fired his gun in the line of duty. In 2011 he killed a 19-year-old at close range; the mother of the victim was awarded $3.5 million in that unjustified shooting, but the settlement was later overturned by a judge. That judge’s decision is now being appealed. More recently, the city agreed upon a $360,000 settlement for the 2013 shooting in which the officer is facing federal criminal charges. Finally, the third shooting incident that the office committed occurred in 2010 when he shot and injured a 20-year-old woman. He has been on desk work for the past few years, still receiving a paycheck. He is now being charged with two accounts of deprivation of rights under the color of law. Deprivation of Rights Under the Color of Law and the FBI When there are allegations that violations of civil right statutes have occurred, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is usually in charge of the investigation, according to the FBI. The FBI’s involvement in civil rights stems from fighting the KKK and the use of police brutality back in the early 20th century. Many of the later were violations that occurred under the color of law. Color of law is defined in West’s Encyclopedia of American Law as “the appearance of an act being performed based upon legal right or enforcement of statute, when in reality no such right exists.” Many civil rights violations occur under the color of law. When serious bodily injury occurs from deprivation of rights under the color of law, the defendant may face up to 10 years in prison. If the intent was to kill, the defendant can face up to life in prison or the death sentence, according to Cornell Law. Of the hundreds of civil rights cases opened by the FBI, including the color of law 2013 police shooting case mentioned above, it also takes on civil rights cases involving hate crimes, human trafficking, and cases involving Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Contact an Experienced Chicago Civil Rights Attorney Today If you have been bullied, harassed, injured, or physically or emotionally assaulted by the police, you may have had your civil rights unknowingly violated. Call an experienced Chicago civil rights violations attorney with Barney and Hourihane today at 312-854-0906. A few months ago police dashboard footage was released of a white police officer killing a black teenager. In the video, taken in October, 2014, the officer, Jason Van Dyke, shot a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, 16 times. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder after the footage was released, and posted a $1.5 million bail last November.
Footage Release There have been many questions about why the footage was not released for such a long time. The footage was only made public after a judge ordered it be released. The order was the result of a lawsuit brought by a journalist, who argued that the video was in the public record. The city argued that release of the footage would compromise a federal investigation and a probe by the state’s attorney, but the judge ruled for the journalist. The officer in the video has a history of complaints made against him, though he was cleared in nearly all of them. Most of the complaints alleged excessive force, with one allegation of a racial slur. But there have been no apparent criminal proceedings brought against him until recently, when the footage was released. Call for Resignation In the midst of rallies and protests, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign. He cited shaken trust in police, stating that police officers are not effective if they are not trusted. Mayor Emanuel stated that he asked for McCarthy’s resignation in order to confront the challenges facing the police department. He then described a new task force on police accountability, formed to review the training and oversight of the city’s police officers. University of Chicago Threat The call for McCarthy’s resignation is not the only major event facing the city as a result of this recent shooting. A 21-year-old student was arrested Monday, November 30, for allegedly threatening to kill students and staff at the University of Chicago in revenge for McDonald’s death. This student reportedly posted the threat on social media, saying that he was going to kill 16 white male students to correspond with the number of times McDonald was “killed,” then die himself, killing as many white police officers as possible in the process. In response to the threat, the university closed its Hyde Park campus, cancelling all classes and activities, asking students and nonessential staff to stay away from campus, and asking students in on-campus housing to stay indoors. The aforementioned student has been charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. If you have been arrested for or charged with a criminal offense, you need experienced legal representation to help you defend your rights. Please contact the skilled Chicago civil rights attorneys at Barney & Hourihane for a free initial consultation Tribune Report Covers Hundreds of Shootings Since 2011
The Chicago Tribune has released never-before-seen data about Chicago Police Department officers and police shootings over the last six years, covering over 400 shootings. The paper was able to acquire information about the shootings, including the shooters and victims, after a long legal battle with the City of Chicago. The report shows that officers fired over 2,000 bullets over the six year period, injured their targets in over two hundred instances, and killed 92 people. As WGN-TV 9 points out, the report shows that about four in five of the victims of these police shootings were black. Most Police Shootings on South and West Sides The sheer scale of police violence in the city of Chicago is staggering. There are more police shootings in Chicago than in any other American city, including Los Angeles and New York. The picture that the data provides is complex. Not only were most of the victims of shootings minorities, but also a majority of the police officers who shot them. The vast majority of the shootings occurred in Chicago’s South and West Sides, while some neighborhoods, such as The Town Hall District (which includes part of Uptown, Wrigleyville, part of Lakeview, Lincoln Square and part of Lincoln Park) had zero police shootings. Minority Cops Can Be Guilty of Racial Profiling One question that the statistics that The Chicago Tribune has compiled and release raise is, “Is it still racial profiling if a minority police officer does it?” It’s worth thinking about the legal answer to this question. Racial profiling by police most often occurs when a police officer chooses to detain, search, or arrest a suspect on the basis of their race or ethnicity. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that it is a violation of the suspect’s constitutional rights if a police officer stops and searches them on the sole basis of their race. The court’s reasoning was that police need a reasonable basis for suspicion before they stop and search someone. The court did not make a distinction between white cops and minority cops: this rule applies to every police officer. So even if a police officer is black or Hispanic, they can’t stop, question or search you just because of the color of your skin. Chicago Cops Can’t Stop, Search or Shoot on the Basis of Race How does this rule apply to the patterns that The Chicago Tribune has published? It seems clear that police officers are much more likely to stop, question, and shoot at black men than any other category of person in Chicago. While in some cases they may have a reasonable suspicion, in many cases they may only be approaching a suspect because the suspect is a black man. Several of the victims of police shootings in Chicago over the six year period have successfully sued the City. Regardless of the officer’s race, they need a reasonable basis for their suspicions, not just where you live or how you look. Get Legal Help If you or someone you know has been the victim of police misconduct, you need expert legal advice. Get in touch with an experienced civil rights attorney at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts CPD Moves to Fire 7 Cops for Lying about Davis Shooting
The Chicago Police department this week recommended firing seven officers for lying about the Laquan McDonald police shooting, according to The Washington Post. The officers made misleading statements to supervisors about McDonald’s behavior prior to the shooting, alleging amongst other things that McDonald lunged at officers with a knife before a police officer shot him. Police video that the department released after over a year of investigation showed that McDonald did not in fact lunge at officers. The department has relieved these officers of their police powers pending the review of the termination recommendation by the Chicago Police Board. Terminations Come After Chicago Chief Inspector Recommendations The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times, is among the seven officers whose termination Superintendent Eddie Johnson has requested. The police dashboard camera video of the shooting shows that Van Dyke continued shooting McDonald even after McDonald fell to the ground. McDonald died of the gunshot wounds. Supt. Johnson is acting in response to a recommendation from the Chicago Inspector General that ten Chicago Police Department officers lose their jobs. Of the ten, two are already retired. The department disagrees with the Inspector General that the tenth officer should lose his job. The department is moving to terminate the officers based on their alleged violations of Rule 14, which forbids Chicago cops from giving false reports. Prosecutors charged Van Dyke with murder in November of last year. Plaintiffs in Civil Suits Against Police Can Discover Video Evidence If someone has suffered police brutality or misconduct in Illinois, they can sue the officer and their department for false arrest, assault, or other kinds of torts. But how can you prove that the officer broke the rules? In many cases it seems like it would come down to your word against that of one or more police officers. Since police officers tend to back up each other’s stories, especially in Chicago, it might seem hard to prove what really happened. It may be possible, though, if you can get the police video of the incident. During the discovery phase of a lawsuit, your lawyer can ask the court to require the police to provide access to evidence that includes video footage from police dashboard cameras and body cameras. This video might show a different side of events than the one given by the officers. Davis Family Could Have Uncovered Shooting Video In the Laquan Davis case, a report from CBS Chicago explains that the City of Chicago settled any possible wrongful death claim by Davis’ family with a $5 million settlement. One of the conditions of the settlement was that the video would remain secret for a year. If a wrongful death lawsuit had gone to court, however, the Davis family attorney would have had the chance to request discovery of any video documentation of the incident. If the video had gone before a jury, they almost certainly would have found that the officers lacked any reasonable fear for their lives that would have justified the use of force that killed Laquan Davis. Contact a Chicago Criminal Appeals Attorney If you or someone you know has been the victim of police misconduct, you need expert legal assistance. Get in touch with an experienced civil rights attorney at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts Review of 2009 IPRA Decision Agrees with CPD Decision to Terminate Cops
In an appeal of an internal police misconduct decision, A state appeals court decided that two Chicago Police Department officers should lose their jobs because they assaulted a citizen while off-duty at a restaurant in 2006, according to The Cook County Record. The case was on appeal before the court after the City challenged a circuit court ruling that ordered the police department to reinstate the two former police officers involved, Jason Orsa and Brian Murphy. The Independent Police Review Authority recommended that the department fire Orsa and Murphy after they threatened and beat Chicago resident Obed DeLeon without following any threat to themselves or others. The police department fired the two after an extensive hearing in 2009. Orsa and Murphy Beat DeLeon and Violated Procedure The incident that led to this lengthy legal battle occurred at a Taco and Burrito King restaurant in Chicago. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports that Orsa and Murphy along with another police officer and a non-officer friend sat at a table in front of DeLeon before pointing a service weapon at his head, pushing him against a wall and punching him repeatedly. The two later claimed that DeLeon was shouting gang slogans and threatening to kill police officers, but witnesses on the scene did not recall any such actions by DeLeon. When on-duty officers arrived, Orsa and Murphy did not make any statements that DeLeon threatened them. The officers did not file a tactical response report, which is a step that police procedure requires in police use-of-force situations. After the altercation, DeLeon filed a complaint with the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, which the Independent Police Review Authority replaced in 2007. IPRA Complaint Investigation Focuses on Community Relations The Independent Police Review Authority has the task of reviewing virtually all complaints of police misconduct, as well as situations that are likely to lead to such complaints. The IPRA receives complaints from Chicago citizens including excessive use of force, coercion (like when a police officer tries to force a suspect to confess), and verbal abuse of citizens on the basis of racial or other bias, by Chicago Police Department officers. They also receive notice from the department itself whenever an officer fires a service weapon or taser, or whenever there is an incident in one of the jails that the CPD administers. The Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA) investigates all other allegations of police misconduct (like soliciting bribes or planting evidence). In this way, the IPRA acts as a kind of public relations shield for the CPD: they handle the kinds of complaints that are most likely to create political backlash against the City of Chicago. Civil Lawsuit vs. IPRA Complaint Should you take your complaint of police misconduct to the IPRA? It depends on what kind of outcome you hope to achieve. On the one hand, the IPRA can discipline an officer directly, and sometimes cause the officer to lose their job. On the other hand, the IPRA does not offer money damages to individuals who have suffered from police misconduct, such as excessive force. Also, the IPRA has a long history of being soft on police officers. While Orsa and Murphy lost their jobs, many other cops have gone unpunished or received light discipline, even for shooting suspects with little or no justification. If you hope to receive any financial compensation for injuries or distress you have suffered, and you want an unbiased hearing, you are better off suing the CPD and the City of Chicago in a court of law. Contact a Chicago Police Misconduct Attorney If you or someone you know has been the victim of police misconduct, you need expert legal help. Get in touch with an experienced civil rights lawyer at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts Police Made Arrest Based on Suspect’s Dress, Lawsuit Claims
A Muslim woman is suing the Chicago Police Department for unlawful search and other civil rights violations after they mistook her for a terrorist based on her religious dress, according to CBS News. The police officers detained Itemid Al-Matar last year on the Fourth of July as she approached a subway station. She argues that the officers stopped her because she was wearing a hijab or head scarf and face veil. Police officers handled her roughly at the subway station and later strip searched her at the police station. The police officers did not find any evidence that Al-Matar posed a threat, but charged with resisting arrest. Woman Resembled “Lone Wolf Suicide Bomber” -- Because She Wore a Backpack Ms. Al-Matar is a Saudi Arabian citizen who began studying English in the United States two years ago. Al-Matar says she was hurrying home to break her Ramadan fast when police stopped her. The Chicago Tribune reports that several officers grabbed her as she approached a CTA stop and ripped off her hijab. A security video that is now publicly available shows three officers holding a woman in a hijab down on a stair landing while two more officers stand by. The police report from the incident indicates that police officers believed Al-Matar was a “lone wolf suicide bomber” because she was holding her backpack and wearing objects that officers believed might have been “incendiary devices,” which turned out to be ankle weights. The complaint accuses the Chicago Police Department of excessive use of force, unlawful search, false arrest, the violation of Al-Matar’s freedom of religious expression, and malicious prosecution. Fourth Amendment Requires Reasonable Suspicion for Searches In most cases, a police officer needs one of three things to search or arrest someone: a valid search warrant, a valid arrest warrant, or a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. In order to stop and search someone, police need a reasonable suspicion that the individual has committed a crime or was in the process of committing a crime. Reasonable suspicion exists when a reasonable person would believe, based on the information available to the officer, that some kind of criminal activity was going on and that more investigation was necessary. To arrest someone, police need probable cause for arrest. Probable cause means that a reasonable person would believe, based on the information available to the police officer, that the suspect has committed a crime or is going to commit a crime. The Illinois Code provides that if an officer stops a person for questioning and then believes that they are in danger of an attack, they may search the person for any weapons. Police Likely Lacked Reasonable Suspicion to Search Al-Matar Did the officers in Al-Matar’s case violate her rights when they stopped and searched her? No one is arguing that the police officers in this case had a valid search or arrest warrant for Al-Matar. So the only argument that the search was legal is that the officers had reasonable suspicion when they detained her. Would a reasonable person believe, based on the information available to the officers, that some kind of criminal activity was going on? The evidence that officers argued provided reasonable suspicion included Al-Matar’s holding a backpack, walking briskly and wearing ankle weights. Would a reasonable person take this evidence to mean that a crime was afoot? Probably not. After all, how many people in a busy subway station are carrying backpacks or walking quickly? Without reasonable suspicion, the arrest violates Al-matar’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Get Legal Help If you or someone you know has been the victim of police misconduct, you need expert legal help. Get in touch with an experienced civil rights lawyer at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts Video Shows Officers Firing into O’Neal’s Car
The Chicago Police Department has decided to release video footage from the body camera of one of the officers involved in the police shooting of Paul O’Neal, an unarmed black teen, according to The Chicago Tribune. The department released the video footage on Friday, August 5. The shooting occurred on July 28, after O’Neal crashed a stolen Jaguar into the vehicles of multiple police officers who were pursuing him. Officers first shot into the stolen vehicle. Then, after O’Neal attempted to flee the scene on foot, one of the officers pursued him on foot as well and shot him in the back. O’Neal died of the gunshot. He was unarmed. Body Camera Footage from Shooter Still Missing The New York Times reports that the video footage of the police shooting that the department released on August 5 comes from the body camera of one of the police officers that was in a car that O’Neal struck with the Jaguar. The footage shows the Jaguar striking the police vehicle, then driving around the stopped vehicle, almost running over one of the police officers. The officer with the body camera gets out of the car and begins shooting at the Jaguar as it drives away. The body camera footage that the department released does not show the officer shooting O’Neal in the back. It does, however, show that the officers handcuffed O’Neal after he sustained the mortal gunshot wound and left him prone on the ground after the shooting. The police department states that they are investigating why the body camera of the officer who shot O’Neal did not capture the footage of the fatal shooting. Police Violated Procedure in O’Neal Shooting The Chicago Police Department has already stated that it appears that the officers violated police department policy during the events surrounding the shooting. Police use of force guidelines prohibit police from firing into a moving vehicle if the danger of the moving vehicle itself is the only threat to the police officers at the time. Illinois law allows police to fire at a fleeing suspect if they have a reason to believe that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officers or the public. The video captured one of the officers stating that he believed that the suspect had fired at the officers, but neither the video nor any official police department statement indicates that O’Neal had a gun. O’Neal’s Family Suing City for Wrongful Death Because O’Neal was unarmed and running away on foot when he was shot, and because he was running away from officers when one of them shot him in the back, it seems that there is no real argument that he posed a threat to the officers at the time they shot him. If O’Neal was unarmed, then it also seems likely that he accomplished the theft of the Jaguar without using force. Although Illinois law allows officers to fire at a fleeing suspect if they believe the suspect has committed a forcible felony (a felony that included the use of violence, like a carjacking), this exception does not seem to apply in this case. A lawyer for the family of O’Neal have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. The lawsuit seeks money damages from the City of Chicago to compensate the family for the killing of O’Neal. The lawyer for the family believes that the police officer intentionally disabled his body camera before shooting O’Neal. Contact a Chicago Police Misconduct Attorney If you or someone you know has been the victim of police brutality, you need expert legal help fast. Get in contact with an experienced civil rights attorney at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts Chicago Police Algorithm Attempts to Predict Shooters, Victims
In a move that is raising racial profiling fears, Chicago Police are now using a computerized algorithm to decide where officers should patrol, according to The Chicago Tribune. The formula takes information about criminal history and involvement in shootings in order to generate a score that indicates how likely people are to be perpetrators or victims of violent crime. The Chicago Police Department is currently focusing on residents with scores over 400—that is, people who the algorithm predicts to be over 400 times more likely to be involved in a violent crime. This list of high-scoring individuals is known as the “strategic subject list.” The department then meets with the people on the list to try to prevent them from killing, or being killed. The theory, according to The New York Times, is that a relatively small number of people are responsible for most of the violent crime in the city. The trick is identifying who they are. During the meetings, which police call “custom notifications,” police officers inform subjects that they are under intense police scrutiny. At the same time, social workers offer assistance with housing and drug rehabilitation in an effort to provide gang members with a way out of a dangerous life. Civil Liberties Groups Worry List May Be Racial Profiling Tool The department has been running the program for over three years. The program has come in for criticism from several different directions. There have been over 330 homicides this year to date, which is an increase of over 40%. At this rate, there will be over 600 homicides this year. It’s not just the list’s effectiveness that is raising concerns. Some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, are concerned that the algorithm used to generate the scores may give disproportionately high scores to racial minorities or residents of high-crime neighborhoods. This, in turn, could lead to disproportionate police scrutiny on the basis of race or geography. The department defends the program, arguing that over 20% of the subjects they visited requested some kind of assistance, and that fewer than 10% were victims of violence after the visits. Illinois Law Prohibits Racial Profiling The Illinois Criminal Code of Procedure of 1963 lays out the law for police officers on arrest, search and seizure. In general, a police officer may arrest someone if they have:
Chicago Algorithm Could Be Unconstitutional Racial Profiling Although the Chicago Police Department has performed mass arrests of gang-related suspects, the “custom notification” meetings are not searches, seizures or arrests. This means that they do not require a search warrant or reasonable grounds for the officers to believe that the subject has committed a crime. Because the officers are requesting permission to enter homes or speaking to the subjects outside, the officers don’t need a warrant to justify forced entry. However, if the police department did use the algorithm or list to decide who to arrest without a warrant, this would be a due process violation: the rule requires that the officer have reasonable grounds to believe that the person is committing or has committed a crime, not that they will commit a crime in the future. Likewise, if the algorithm was based entirely on race, and officers were to use it in deciding whom to detain, this would be a violation of the suspect’s constitutional rights. But even if race were one factor in the algorithm, it might still survive a court challenge. Get Legal Help If you or someone you know has been falsely arrested, you need expert legal help. Contact an experienced civil rights attorney at Barney & Hourihane in Chicago to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts State’s Attorney Drops Murder Charges on Appeal
In what may be a case of false imprisonment, two men are free after 23 years in prison, after Chicago prosecutors dropped murder charges against them, The Chicago Tribune reports. The men are Armando Serrano and Jose Montanez. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office decided to drop the charges because prosecutors could no longer carry the burden of proof necessary to uphold the conviction. The decision came after an appeals court judge issued a ruling which found that “profoundly alarming acts of misconduct” had led to the arrest. Investigating Officer Pays Out in Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit Over two decades ago, prosecutors convicted the two of the 1993 murder of Rodrigo Vargas in Humboldt Park. The conviction rested on evidence provided by former Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Guevara was a West Side police officer whose work has attracted increasing criticism from the courts. Guevara allegedly arrested Serrano and Montanez on the basis of a tip he received from an informant, who later confessed that Guevara provided the story to the informant. The informant says that Guevara threatened and intimidated him to force him to give false testimony, according to ABC 7 Chicago. Authorities have previously released another person, Juan Johnson, that Guevara investigated for a 1989 murder. Johnson won a $21 million dollar wrongful conviction lawsuit against Guevara. Kimberly Foxx will take over the State’s Attorney’s Office in December, and plans to review the cases of at least two other men in prison for crimes that Guevara investigated. Illinois Appeals Courts Can Reverse Trial Court Convictions Under Illinois Law, all appeals of criminal verdicts go to the Illinois Appellate Court. The State can appeal when a court dismisses a charge, or effectively does so by suppressing evidence from an arrest, quashing a warrant, etc. If the state appeals, the defendant usually goes free from jail during the appeal. The time that passes during the appeal doesn’t count toward time served for the purposes of obtaining discharge if a court later convicts the defendant. If a defendant pleads guilty, they can appeal the sentence, or try to withdraw the plea. If the defendant appeals a guilty verdict, they do not go free during the appeal process. During the appeal, the defendant’s attorney can bring to the attention of the Appellate Court any errors in the trial that substantially affected the defendant’s rights. The Appellate Court has a wide variety of options if they find that important mistakes occurred at the trial court level. The Appellate Court can reverse the judgment of the trial court, reduce the conviction to a lesser offense, reduce the defendant’s sentence, or order a new trial. United States federal law allows individuals who have suffered from wrongful imprisonment to sue those responsible for money damages, including attorney’s fees. Serrano and Montanez Could Sue for Wrongful Conviction Because the trial court convicted Serrano and Montanez of murder, they went to prison while their appeal was taking place. The fact that the only evidence against them at the trial court turned out to be a perjury would probably be a big enough error for the Appellate Court to reverse their convictions. The State’s Attorney probably decided to drop the charges rather than waste any more time in court awaiting a reversal. In cases like that of Serrano and Montanez, a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department for wrongful imprisonment could succeed, since the actions of the detective deprived them of significant rights. Get Legal Help If you or someone you know has been wrongfully convicted, you need expert legal help. Contact an experienced criminal appeals attorney at Barney & Hourihane today to get the justice you deserve. See Related Blog Posts |
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