Criminal defense

May 25, 2016

Are Police Shootings Justified?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

There have been several incidents recently where a Chicago Police Officer has been involved in conduct that was either illegal or borderline illegal. This should not reflect on the hundreds of officers that are outstanding in the performance of their duties, but unfortunately, it does. The responsibility should be laid at the feet of the administrators that turn a blind eye to problem officers who create an atmosphere of mistrust in their communities.

The Chicago Police Department recently came under fire over the perceived “code of silence” with respect to giving any evidence of potential police corruption within a precinct. A federal court judge has given a green light for Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel to be called before the court to give testimony regarding this practice. This court ruling may have significant ramifications for the way the police department will be required to conduct their investigations into internal affairs going forward.

The actions of police departments across the nation have been placed under microscopic scrutiny due to several highly politicized incidents involving law enforcement and the neighborhoods that they patrol. In several incidents, the police have been exonerated. Even so, some believe that cover ups do occur. In such a climate, any possibility that evidence of true police misconduct is being covered up by a “code of silence” will lead to mistrust, especially in those communities that need the police the most.

May 13, 2016

Can We Get a Witness?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Street gang violence in the inner cities has become a way of life. News reports about shootings and killing on any given weekend is now Monday morning’s “yawn” story. But how can that be? Young men and women being shot down in the streets become just another statistic. A life lost, snuffed out by an “unidentified” assailant, is how the story goes. The assailant cannot be identified even though the probability of the residents of these closed neighborhoods not knowing who does what in the community is slim to none. Law enforcement’s hands are tied because of the desensitization and unwillingness of neighbors in the communities to get involved.

Sometimes You are Just in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

An adjunct to the tragic story of Lee McCullum is the equally tragic story of Tiara Parks, the 23 year old girlfriend of McCullum. Parks was also the daughter of a Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy, a college student and a working mother. It is not known at this time what the possible motive for this murder was. Two other individuals were wounded in this drive-by shooting, one in the leg and one in the back. During the time of the shootings, there were approximately twenty people in the area, standing around as Parks and her companions were shot down as they exited their car in front of the Haley Elementary Academy. It is also unknown at this time if Parks or either of her companions, or all three of them, were the targets of this shooting.

May 11, 2016

Getting into a Chicago Street Gang is Easy, Getting out Alive is the Problem

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

It has been said that street gangs exist to fill a void in the lives of their members. A gang member may feel a lack of love and support from his or her people at home. Statistically speaking, about 72% of African American children are being raised in single parent households. The emotional needs of many of these children cannot be met in the environment in which they are being raised. Therefore, many of these young men and women will seek to fill this void by joining a gang, without the wisdom and understanding to know (before it is too late) that there is no love in these affiliations because street gangs thrive off hatred, lawlessness, and despair.

In some cases, however, the street gangs seeking to draft new members do not allow a choice in the matter. For young men and women, especially young men, it becomes a matter of joining the gang in their neighborhood or suffer the consequences. Turf wars, drug dealing, and vigilantly justice are the driving forces behind these gangs. To be a member, you must be ready to participate in murders, robberies, and other crimes dictated by the gang leader.

The Tragedy of Lee McCullen

May 6, 2016

Taking Politics Out of Policing the Neighborhood

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Law enforcement needs community cooperation, involvement, and support. The community needs law enforcement to “protect” it from criminal behavior and to “serve” it in dangerous situations. Both the community and law enforcement need each other in order to keep chaos at bay. But there are communities and neighborhoods in every state that do not understand this concept of interdependency. In those communities, the mistrust runs deep, unfortunately, spurred on by the media, by special interest groups for whatever political clout they feel they can get from it, and of course criminal elements that take advantage of the chasm between the police and residents.

The special interest groups, out of their own misguided intentions and misunderstanding of the importance of having the police and the communities work together, are convinced that law enforcement is the enemy. They are waging a very effective PR campaign again law enforcement, so much so that some communities are being made to believe that law enforcement and not the gang activity in the communities is destroying the neighborhoods.

Civil disobedience and glaring disrespect is the name of the name when there is any interaction between the police and members of these communities, including something as small as a traffic stop. These problems keep the police on high alert when they are called upon to enforce the law in these communities. This lack of mutual respect and trust between law enforcement and the neighborhoods has created a breeding ground for criminal activity.

May 4, 2016

Chicago Law Enforcement Handicapped, Community Involvement Required

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

When crime on the streets gets so out of control, when criminal gang members have their run of the neighborhoods, when they can commit violent crimes without compunction, including violent assaults and murder, then you will find at the very foundation of such lawlessness a total breakdown of community involvement and lack of support for the law enforcement.

Gang Members Given “Get Out of Jail” Passes

Get out of jail passes, also known as parole, are not normally given to convicts with a long history of violence. In fact, when crimes are committed by persons while out on parole, the parole is revoked and the individual is re-arrested and required to not only serve any new prison sentence, but also the remainder of the sentence from which he was paroled.

April 15, 2016

Your Constitutional Right to Bail

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Bail is a monetary pledge (a bond) telling the court, that if the court will authorize your release, you promise to abide by any conditions the court demands, and to appear at all hearing dates going forward, including trial. By posting this bond, you are agreeing that should you fail to abide by any of the court’s conditions, your bail will be forfeited, and you will be returned to jail to await your trial. That is the premise under which the court will set bail, and if paid by you or by someone on your behalf, authorize your release from jail.

Can Your Right to Bail be Denied?

When accused of a crime, placed under arrest, and locked up in jail, what are your rights? Are you entitled to be released on bail? How much bail can the courts impose for your release?

April 6, 2016

Unusual and Infamous Crimes

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Unusual crime stories make the news on a regular basis, grabbing the imagination of the viewers and keeping them enthralled and glued to their television sets, not to mention increasing the network ratings. These crimes make huge splashes in the news and tantalize the audience with wild scenes of decadence and drama, like the latest soap opera or reality show. Most crimes of this caliber usually involve, money, murder, sex.

Chicago Woman Kills Mother While on Exotic Vacation

The Bali suitcase murder case involved a million dollar trust, an exotic vacation, angst between a mother and daughter, and conspiracy between lovers to commit murder. Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer were convicted and sentenced to 10 and 18 years, respectively, for the murder of Mack’s mother. They will be serving their time in a Bahi prison. Mack, Schaefer, and Mack’s mother were on vacation when the murder occurred. Soon after being incarcerated, Mack gave birth to her daughter. According to Indonesian law, the baby will be raised by Mack in her prison cell until the child reaches the age of two years old.

March 30, 2016

Identity Theft, Counterfeiting, and Bomb Threats

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A combination of two ultimate fraud charges, identity theft and counterfeiting, resulted in a major potential felony bomb threat at the Midway Airport. All of these elements came to light when a Chicago woman attempted to smuggle counterfeit and stolen credit/debit cards out of the state, and ended up as what the authorities thought was a bomb threat. See DNAinfo Chicago.

The Identity Theft Incident, Now a Major Crime

Prior to 1998, identity theft was not considered a major crime. Identity theft and identity fraud is pretty much the same thing. This is a crime where one person obtains and uses the personal information of a victim to advance his or her own personal gain. The personal information used, such as birth date, social security number, etc., allows the perpetrator to pose as the victim for the purpose of obtaining a loan, buying merchandise or obtaining credit in the victim’s name. This fraud has far reaching consequences for the victim, because once the identity has been used, to run up credit debt, or for criminal activity, they will have major problems in trying to restore their good name.

March 18, 2016

The First Amendment Right to Free Speech and Social Media

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Do we have a First Amendment Right to say anything we want to on social media; to make threats of violence against others, without fear of retribution? Social Media brawls, squabbles, and feuds on Facebook and Twitter, to name a few, are no joke. What often starts out as an innocent “back and forth” between sparring parties can grow ugly when there is a spillover from Facebook to reality; and sometimes that spillover can become deadly.

Facebook and Twitter accounts are now being monitored for possible criminal activities. Both federal, as well as state and local law enforcements have begun to use social media as one of their vehicles in the prevention and the solving of crimes. There have been court rulings that postings on social media sites have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality, therefore, anything you post in social media is accessible without the need for a warrant.

Even so, it has not been settled whether the First Amendment Right applies to threats of crimes of violence or murder on social media. Many social media users hide behind the anonymity of the profiles they create to behave in ways that would be totally unacceptable in the real world.

March 16, 2016

The First Amendment and the Right to Assemble

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

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There is a safeguard under our First Amendment for political protests. However, that safeguard does not extend to protests that lead to assault and battery (or worse) of other protesters, passersby, police officers, or news reporters.

Most recently, during a political rally in Chicago, for one of the Republican candidates, Donald Trump, a protest erupted. Thousands of protesters and the candidate’s supporters faced off in what started as a mere disagreement in campaign policies and slogans and ended in a “free for all.” In the aftermath of the protests, four people were arrested. One of the protesters faces one count of felony aggravated battery against a police officer and five misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest. If his main purpose for attending the rally was to go to jail, then he succeeded.