For most people who have been wrongfully convicted of a crime, the most pressing concern is to have their conviction vacated so that they can be freed from prison or otherwise avoid a sentence. However, in some cases that doesn’t go far enough. Sometimes it can be so obvious that police acted unjustly and so much of a person’s life can be lost to a wrongful conviction that the only recourse is to pursue a civil lawsuit for violation of civil rights, as a recent case illustrates.
Fifteen Years in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about a Waukegan man who was found guilty in 1999 for the murder of a mentally disabled Kane County woman. At the time, the man admitted to police that he beat the woman before dumping her body in a woman area, but forensic evidence that came to light last year showed that the woman had lightly been abused for weeks before she died, and her injuries were not consistent with how the man killed her. The defendant had no prior relationship with the woman. In fact, the defendant’s “confession” was an egregious case of police misconduct. Police officers refused his requests for an attorney to be present during his interrogation, and repeatedly threatened him until he confessed to a version of the crime that they fabricated. Other witnesses in the case claim that they were similarly intimidated by police to cook up a false version of events. Last year, the man was released from prison, and Lake County has issued him a certificate of innocence. That has paved the way for him to file a civil lawsuit in federal court against the officers involved in his case on the grounds that they violated his civil rights. The case illustrates serious questions about how police in both Waukegan and Chicago handle felony cases The Chicago Tribune reported that defendants in six major felony cases in Waukegan have been exonerated since 2010 after forensic evidence came to light proving their innocence. The city has paid out more than $27 million to resolve civil rights cases involving police misconduct since 2006. And Waukegan is second only to Chicago when it comes to wrongful convictions. But the most troubling allegation in the Waukegan case is how widespread police misconduct may have been there. In his lawsuit, the newly exonerated man claims that it was a common practice for police at the department to coerce confessions and fabricate evidence, and in many cases police officers were promoted for that conduct. Contact a Chicago Civil Rights Attorney If police have used faulty evidence to convict you of a crime that you didn’t commit it, you don’t have to accept this unjust verdict. Illinois law allows several paths to clear your name in appellate court. And in addition to winning your freedom, you may also be able to pursue a lawsuit against the police for violating your civil rights. To discuss how to file an appeal and pursuing a civil rights lawsuit, contact the Chicago offices of Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. A lawsuit alleging that a Cook County sheriff’s deputy used excessive force against a suspect illustrates again how civil lawsuits are often the only legal recourse that many people have following incidents of police brutality.
Punched and Kicked for Doing Nothing Wrong The federal lawsuit was filed by a 50-year-old Chicago man arrested in 2013 on cocaine charges that were later dropped, and is backed up by surveillance video from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. While the video tape doesn’t contain any sound, the man admits that while in custody he responded to a question from the deputy with an expletive. That might have been disrespectful, the resulting actions by the deputy were truly outrageous. The deputy kicked the man to the ground, and then continued to punch and kick him while he lay in the fetal position. Eventually, the deputy handcuffed the man and dragged him out of his cell. Video Evidence but Little Action From Authorities Shockingly, the deputy in the video has not faced any punishment for his actions. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to press charges, stating that it would be too difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the deputy used excessive force. A complaint was filed with the sheriff’s office, but that also hasn’t resulted in any punishment for the deputy’s actions sticking. While the deputy was initially fired, his termination was reversed by an internal Merit Board that reviews allegations of misconduct by sheriff’s deputies. The Merit Board found that the suspect was resisting arrest. A Cook County judge also sided with the Merit Board, but the Sheriff’s Office has now taken that decision to the Illinois Court of Appeals. The deputy continues to collect a salary. Pursuing Excessive Force Lawsuits As this latest case from Cook County shows, often a civil lawsuit is the only remedy for suspects who have been victimized by police misconduct. This typically involves filing a lawsuit in federal court alleging that your civil rights have been violated, and demanding monetary compensation from the police department or sheriff’s office. However, there may be difficulties in proving that how a police officer acted indeed constituted excessive force. Excessive force claims are judged on a case-by-case basis against how a hypothetical reasonable police officer in the same situation would have acted. This can make it difficult to establish excessive force in cases where a suspect has acted violently, but in clearer cases where a suspect has done nothing to provoke officers and suffered serious injuries, large monetary awards have been paid out by law enforcement agencies in settlements or jury verdicts. Contact a Chicago Police Abuse Attorney Police officers have tough jobs, and sometimes they do have to use force to apprehend suspects. However, police are never authorized to beat and abuse suspects. When police use excessive force, it can result in lifelong injuries, and departments are usually unable or unwilling to do anything to punish bad cops. If you’ve been victimized by police brutality and are considering a lawsuit against law enforcement officers in Cook County, contact Barney & Hourihane today to discuss your case. One of the most dramatic moments in crime TV shows or movies is when a victim is brought the police station to pick an assailant out of a lineup. Lineups are not quite as common in real life, but they are sometimes part of police work. However, lineups have also been known to be the source of many wrongful convictions. So to protect the constitutional rights of defendants, Illinois has put a series of laws in place directing the specific procedures that police must follow when conducting a lineup.
Illinois Requirements for Police Lineups Under Illinois law, police officers may conduct either photo lineups or live lineups in which several people who match the description given by the victim are brought in for identification. Photo lineups usually include at least six photos, if not several more. Typically, only five or six people with similar appearances are brought in for a live lineup. Several amendments to the law that went into effect in 2015 now require police lineups to meet the following requirements:
Contact a Chicago Police Misconduct Attorney Police lineups can be a useful investigative technique, but the law is clear that police must follow certain very specific procedures when conducting these lineups to ensure they are not overly prejudicial toward a suspect who may be innocent. If you’ve been convicted of a crime largely based on a faulty police lineup, you may be able to get your conviction overturned on appeal. For more information about police lineups and the appeal process in Illinois, contact the Chicago offices of Barney & Hourihane today to discuss your case with an attorney. Technology is pretty great overall. It’s given us a much higher standard of living and makes most jobs a lot easier. Computers reduce the time it takes to do almost anything. And of course if it wasn’t for computers or cell phones, you wouldn’t be able to read this blog right now.
But unfortunately, technology has a dark side as well. Sometimes it can give law enforcement a little too much power to invade the privacy of innocent people. And when technology oversteps what the constitution allows, lawmakers need to step in to limit how that technology can be used. Stingrays: More than Just Marine Animals Originally developed by the military, stringrays are devices used by law enforcement that act like cell towers. When in use, stringrays can tell police the exact location of a phone, or extract information from the device. Police can also use stringrays to jam the communications of a cell phone. Earlier this month, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously in favor of SB 2343, a law that would require police to obtain a warrant for using stringrays in the course of an investigation. Police would also be limited to identifying and tracking cell phones described in a warrant. Violation of the law would result in a presumption that any other evidence obtained by a stingray is inadmissible in court. Police would also be required to destroy any information obtained from cell phones that weren’t described in the warrant. The bill now goes before the Illinois House for consideration. This legislation comes on the heels of a decision earlier this year by a Cook County judge order the Chicago Police Department to turn over information about its stingray program. The city claimed that having to reveal information about the program would allow criminals to figure out ways around it, disregarding the civil rights of innocent civilians who may be caught up in an investigation involving stingrays. Stingrays are often provided to local police departments through federal grants. The feds, however, require that investigators sign non-disclosure agreements before using stingrays in their investigations. This prevents police from releasing any information about how stingrays are used. In some cases, police officers have even refused to discuss stingrays while testifying in court. Prosecutors have also been told to withdraw evidence obtained by stingrays if defense attorneys press the issue. The federal government simply doesn’t want to deal with a constitutional challenge to the use of stingrays, which is exactly why it’s so important for state legislatures to consider this issue. Chicago Criminal Defense Law If police are investigating a crime, they have to do it within certain constitutional limitations. If evidence is obtained unconstitutionally, it must be suppressed at trial. On appeal, convictions can be vacated if law enforcement officers don’t follow these rules, particularly when new technology is involved in an investigation. For more information about the appellate process, contact the Chicago offices of Barney & Hourihane today to speak with an attorney about your case. In recent months, protests have been a constant sight in the streets of Chicago, as residents have banded together to voice their concerns about police misconduct and police brutality. Each week it seems like there’s some new story in the media about a Chicago police officer shooting or otherwise injuring a seemingly innocent person without any consequences. But one of the reasons that police officers are rarely held accountable following these incidents is that state law makes it difficult to prove a case of misconduct against a law enforcement officer in Illinois.
Chicago Police and Qualified Immunity There are three ways to seek redress for police misconduct. The first is an internal investigation by the department. The second is to work with the state’s attorney’s office to pursue a criminal case. The third way, which can result in financial compensation from a department for injuries sustained by a rogue police officer is to pursue a civil lawsuit. When pursuing a civil lawsuit against another civilian, it’s typically required that the plaintiff proved that the defendant acted negligently, meaning that the defendant breached a duty of care owed to the plaintiff. This is a relatively low hurdle to clear for many personal injury cases. However, a plaintiff must prove significantly more serious conduct on the part of a police officer when suing them in their official capacity. Illinois law recognizes qualified immunity for police officers in civil lawsuits. This means that it’s not enough to merely prove that a police officer acted negligently, the plaintiff must prove that his or her injury was the result of the officer’s “willful and wanton conduct.” The plaintiff must show that the police officer then purposely caused injuries without any valid reason such as the plaintiff fighting back during an arrest, or that the officer simply didn’t care about the plaintiff’s safety in the course of his or her actions. The idea behind qualified immunity is to help police officers do their jobs without the constant fear that they might be sued by every person that they come into contact with. Unfortunately, far too often, police officers seem to think that qualified immunity means they can abuse the rights of citizens without any fear of reprisal. While qualified immunity makes it more difficult to prove a case against a police officer, it’s still not impossible to win a police misconduct case in court, especially with the help of an experienced Chicago civil rights attorney. Contact a Chicago Civil Rights Lawyer Police have more authority than the average citizen to detain and arrest suspects, and sometimes they’re even justified in using some force to make those arrests, but police are never entitled violate civil rights by beating or shooting people who have done nothing wrong. If you’ve been injured by police misconduct in Illinois, you need an attorney on your side who will fight to ensure you’re fairly compensated for your injuries. For more information, contact the Chicago offices of Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. What at one time appeared to be a tragic case of a police officer in Fox Lake being killed in the line of duty has in recent months revealed itself to be a tangled web of alleged illegal conduct on the part of a slain officer who staged his death. And now two men who were initially implicated in the police officer’s death are pursuing a lawsuit against the Fox Lake Police Department for violating their civil rights.
A Fallen Police Officer and a Fallen Reputation By now, many in the Chicago area are familiar with the details of the Fox Lake police officer’s death, recounted in this Chicago Tribune article. On September 1, 2015, the officer radioed dispatch that he was pursuing three suspects on foot. A short time later, he was found dead in a remote area, shot by his own service weapon. Law enforcement officers swarmed Fox Lake looking for three suspects described by the police officer. The only problem is that the three suspects never existed. Investigators now say that the police officer committed suicide and made it look like he was killed in the line of duty as he feared that an embezzlement scheme he had been working for several years was about to be uncovered. In their lawsuit, the two men allege numerous violations of their civil rights. They state that police detained them for hours soon after the officer’s death and would not allow them to leave though they were cooperative and never charged with any crime. Even after the men were released, the next day police allegedly raided their homes with a SWAT helicopter. After that, police continued to return, yet reportedly never showed the men warrants. The men also claim that in the days following the officer’s death, other police officers cornered them and demanded that they provide DNA. Worst of all, the men claim that all of this happened despite the fact that the police had reasonable suspicion that the death of the officer was in fact a suicide. These men have only recently filed their lawsuit, so it’s unknown which of their claims will be substantiated, but their allegations illustrate several classic civil rights violations on the part of law enforcement. While the police have authority to investigate alleged crimes, there are still procedures they must follow. Police officers cannot detain individuals for hours on end without probable cause, and almost always need a warrant to search a home. And police cannot demand DNA from innocent people under threat of further harassment. Any activity like this on the part of law enforcement is grounds for a civil rights lawsuit. Chicago Civil Rights Lawyer Police have the responsibility to enforce the law. They are not above it and cannot violate the rights of others in the course of an investigation, but if you believe that the police in Illinois have violated your civil rights, you may be entitled to compensation. For more information, contact Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." The founding fathers were so concerned with the right to privacy and preventing law enforcement from barging into private residences for any reason that they clearly enshrined it in the Constitution. While the Fourth Amendment still guides how police officers in the 21st century obtain warrants, courts have interpreted the amendment to allow for several exceptions over the years, so it’s important to understand when the actions of police and have or have not violated constitutional protections.
How Police Obtain Warrants As outlined in the Fourth Amendment, police officers today still obtain search warrants by providing information to a neutral and detached magistrate that either through their own observations or from information provided by witnesses or a confidential informant, they have probable cause to believe criminal activity is occurring at a specific place. If these requirements aren’t met, the warrant is not valid. Once issued, police can only search the place described in the warrant. If the warrant is only for a backyard of a home and not the home itself, police are restricted to only search the backyard. When It’s Not Necessary for Police to Obtain a Warrant While police in Illinois need a warrant to conduct most types of searches, courts have recognized the following exceptions to the warrant requirement: · Consent- If police ask you if they can take a look around your home, you are consenting to a search without a warrant. You may limit the area of the home that police search, but courts have some discretion in determining just how far that limitation goes. You may also refuse to consent to a search. Refusing to consent to search alone does not give police probable cause to search a home. · Plain View- If you open your door to speak with police and illegal contraband is in plain view of the officer when the door is opened, police do not need permission to enter your residence to confiscate the contraband. · In Connection with an Arrest- Police may search the immediate area of an arrest, or conduct a sweep of a residence if they believe an accomplice may be hiding therein. However, the purpose of this sweep must be to protect others, not to search for evidence. · Emergency- If police reasonably believe a person is in danger or evidence related to a lawful arrest may be destroyed if they take the time to properly obtain a warrant, they may enter a residence without a warrant for the purpose of public safety. Contact a Chicago Defense Lawyer The right to be free of a warrantless search in America is sacrosanct. If you believe that police officers in Illinois have violated your right to illegally obtain evidence against you, an experienced attorney can petition a court to have this evidence suppressed. For more information, contact the Chicago offices of Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. Police officers are given positions of tremendous trust in our society, so it can be especially disconcerting to have that trust violated by an incident of police misconduct. Police misconduct can take several forms, including excessive force, unlawful arrest, or disregard of constitutional rights such as probable cause and due process. No matter exactly how police misconduct comes about though, it’s important to hold police officers accountable for their actions and the high standards of conduct that come along with wearing a law enforcement uniform.
What to Do if You Suspect Police Misconduct The first step in pursuing a complaint for police misconduct is to document everything that is occurring. It’s important to remember that there is no Illinois or federal law that prevents you from recording the police in public, so you may use a cell phone to document any police contact, regardless of what an officer tells you. If you do not have access to a camera for some reason, then it is important to write down everything that occurred during your encounter with the police as soon as possible after it happened. You can refer back to this document while pursuing your complaint or a lawsuit. Every police department has its own procedures for investigating police misconduct. You will have to contact the department to determine their own process. Unfortunately, because this is a completely internal process run by police themselves who often have their own motivations for not hurting the image of the department, it can be very difficult to have a complaint validated this way. For example, one study found that between 2002 and 2004, of 10,149 complaints of excessive force, illegal searches, false arrest and racial prejudice against Chicago police, only 1.2 percent of internal complaints were sustained, and only 19 total cases resulted in any disciplinary action taken against an officer. Filing a Police Misconduct Lawsuit If the police do not act on an internal complaint, you still have other options to pursue compensation for a police misconduct complaint. The state’s attorney’s office may file criminal charges, but again, this is often a dead end. However, retaining a private attorney in a civil case can often hold police accountable. Civil cases require a lower standard of evidentiary proof, and so it can be easier to show a jury that injuries or other civil rights violations were caused by police misconduct. Officers involved in an accident will be required to testify at depositions and at trial. In addition, a civil lawsuit is the only way to receive any sort of financial compensation from a municipality for the devastating results of police misconduct. Need Legal Help? No one should have to worry about their rights being violated when they interact with police in Chicago, or any other part of the state. But if you believe that law enforcement officers have violated your civil rights, there are ways to use the legal system to ensure you are fairly compensated for police misconduct. For more information, contact Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. The police have a tough job. Often suspects get violent, or officers are put in dangerous situations where the lives of innocent people are at risk. In those situations, police are legally justified to act with a certain level of force to protect the public from harm. However, there are certain legal restrictions on how much force police can use when dealing with any type of situation, and unfortunately sometimes officers exceed that appropriate amount of force for a given situation. Defining excessive force exactly is a difficult proposition, but there are some guidelines for understanding when excessive force is being used by police in Chicago and the rest of the state of Illinois.
Not All Force is Excessive Generally, the appropriate use of force by a police officer is measured against the amount of force a reasonable police officer would use in a similar circumstance. This is an extremely difficult way to determine what is excessive. Few people would argue that an officer’s use of force is excessive to take down and pin a suspect who attempts to strike the officer during a lawful arrest. However, use of a firearm would certainly be excessive in this situation. If the police officer used a Taser to detain such a suspect, and that resulted in serious injuries, whether the use of force was excessive would be something of a gray area that would likely be determined by a court. However, Some Types of Force are Always Excessive Excessive force by police officers has justifiably received a large amount of media attention in recent months, particularly the use of chokeholds to detain suspects. Chokeholds are extremely dangerous maneuvers to use on anyone in any circumstances as these maneuvers reduce oxygen and blood flow to the brain. As documented in many media reports, a chokehold by police can result in serious permanent injury, or even death. As a result, in 2015 the governor of Illinois signed into law a bill that bans the use of chokeholds by law enforcement officials in Illinois. Chokeholds of course are just one type of excessive force. Any use of force out of proportion with the circumstances of an arrest is excessive. For example, police officers should never fire their weapons at a suspect unless there is a legitimate threat of serious bodily injury or death to another human being. To determine whether you have a valid complaint that police used excessive force, you should consult with an attorney about the circumstances of your encounter with police. Need Legal Help? The effects of excessive force can be devastating from both a physical and mental perspective. There are of course high medical bills to deal with for injuries that never should have been inflicted, but there is also the emotional toll from having the trust of law enforcement violated by police misconduct. Both types of injuries are entitled to compensation under the law For more information, contact Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. Cameras have become a ubiquitous part of life thanks to smartphones. It’s now easier than ever to record an event as it happens, and that extends to police conduct in public as well. Such recordings of arrests have been instrumental in determining whether police acted within the law when suspects have later pursued lawsuits for police misconduct.
Unfortunately, this means that some police officers have become wary of average citizens exercising their rights to record them, and will sometimes threaten or otherwise attempt to dissuade the public from recording them. It’s important to note that there is absolutely no law or ordinance in the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois or at the federal level that bars recording police in public, but there are things to keep in mind if you notice the police doing something in public that you believe warrants recording it. Tips for Recording Police in Public First, it remains illegal to record private conversations in the state of Illinois. There is no legal authority to record police when they are off-duty without their permission, or if two officers are speaking to each other in a restaurant. However, you are perfectly within your rights to record police if you see them conducting an arrest. Keeping this in mind, there’s no reason to attempt to hide what are you doing. An officer may object to the recording and tell you that you are breaking a law. You are within your rights to tell him clearly and respectfully that you are not breaking any state or federal law and continue recording. However, you may not interfere with a police officer’s official duties. If a police officer needs to get past you to complete an arrest or obtain a piece of evidence, you have no authority to get in his way while recording. You still must listen to police orders to stay out of the way for the safety of you and other members of the public, and obey these orders. Under Illinois law, you also must identify yourself if a police officer requests this information. The worst case scenario is that even though you are acting within the law, the police officer finds some reason to arrest you. It is extremely important to understand that even though this arrest is without any legal grounds, you are not entitled to resist arrest and must allow yourself to be taken into custody. You may then request an attorney who will seek to have any charges brought against you dismissed and ensure that the recording of the police encounter is preserved. Need Legal Help? It’s important to remember that police officers enforce the law, they are not above it. If you believe you have been the victim of police misconduct, it’s important to hold officers accountable for their violations of the law and ensure you are fairly compensated for any injuries you sustained. For more information, contact Barney & Hourihane today for a consultation. |
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