Just seeing a drug-sniffing dog can be nerve-wracking, and having one sniff your body, compound, car, or belongings can feel like an infringement on your privacy. These dogs are a common sight in airports and functions such as festivals where large crowds of people gather to have fun.
Apart from airports and music festivals, you might have seen these dogs at a traffic stop and wondered if it was legal for the police to have them there.
The Case of Illinois V. Caballes
You have been charged with a crime, and you have been summoned to court. Whether it is a traffic violation, a misdemeanor that resulted from a bar fight, or even a low-level drug possession issue, attorney representation can be a significant expense. Now, you are attempting to decide whether you can manage your defense on your own without hiring a lawyer.
Those that represent themselves in legal proceedings on their own behalf are referred to and appear as “pro se” litigants. While most persons do not have real-time courtroom experience—especially as a defendant—many feel that they have gained valuable knowledge from movies and TV shows and therefore understand courtroom mechanics. Possibly the most famous pro se litigant was Robert Kearns, the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper who prevailed in court against the giant Chrysler corporation. If someone like the non-legally trained engineer Kearns could be successful in a big-time courtroom setting, why not skip the lawyer expense and handle your case yourself?
Pro Se Representation Advantages
The “Cop City” protest group in Atlanta involved recruitment and awareness efforts in Chicago via a Twitter account and group meetups. In this case, the activists were opposed to the destruction of a public park and an 85-acre urban forest in Atlanta that was earmarked for use as a police training center. The area was thenceforth known as “Cop City.”
The activism efforts spooked the FBI even though there was no evidence that the group did anything more than raise awareness about the destruction of an urban forest and hold meetings to discuss social and environmental issues. Nonetheless, the FBI snooped on the activists and dedicated federal funds to the effort of stopping “anarchist extremism.”
Documents, which failed to indicate anyone in the group did anything illegal, characterize the individuals as “violent anarchist extremists” and “violent environmental extremists,” but there is no evidence to buttress those allegations.
A Chicago teen is facing criminal charges after stealing a Kia at gunpoint and taking it on a joyride. The vehicle eventually crashed into a police car and spun out into a parked car. The three teens inside the vehicle took off in different directions, but police were able to apprehend each of them. One of them had a gun. The victim was a 16-year-old girl. The suspect has been charged with armed robbery and criminal trespass to a vehicle. Both officers injured in the crash are expected to make a full recovery.
This particular teen will be charged as an adult. Charging documents have already taken off many of the worst allegations that can be made. The law likes to give 17-year-olds a chance to rehabilitate their lives. Unfortunately, prison is not the place for that. However, when it comes to 17-year-olds who commit violent crimes, most jurisdictions will pursue adult charges.
However, Chicago is once again in a swing toward “tough on crime” politics as news of crime draws criticism from the public.
Michigan prosecutors are attempting to advance charges against the parents of a school shooter, claiming that the parents “should have known” that the boy had psychological problems due to his fascination with guns and disturbing drawings.
The idea that we all have the same set of values regarding weapons and horror art is not a smart position to take. Ultimately, the prosecutors need to convince a jury that parents would ultimately consider it within the realm of possibility that their child would commit a mass shooting. Parents rarely ever consider this. We will never know how many mass shootings were stopped by parental intervention, but it happens frequently enough to know that these parents are just as blindsided as the rest of society when their child commits an atrocity.
These parents are not getting a sick sense of satisfaction over the knowledge that their child is going to prison forever. They are devastated and their lives are ruined.
One officer is facing charges after several officers allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old boy during an arrest. Essentially, one officer was caught punching the boy repeatedly while the boy was on the ground, and the other officers were caught standing nearby and watching. While the officer who threw the punch is facing charges of aggravated assault and official misconduct, the officers who stood by and watched are not. Nor are they facing disciplinary action.
It is not clear that the bystander police officers could be held responsible for a crime in this instance. Which then got me thinking, what happened to the other two officers in the George Floyd case? The answer: They went to prison. So, let’s analyze that case (which was filed under Wisconsin law), and maybe we can figure out if these officers could be charged with the same thing.
George Floyd Analysis
The father of Robert Crimo III, 58-year-old Robert Crimo Jr., has been indicted on seven counts of reckless conduct after his son went on a rampage that killed seven. Crimo Jr. has been charged with one count of reckless conduct for every death that occurred that day. However, the prosecution has not convicted him yet.
The grand jury process allows prosecutors to present a case without the defense present. Ultimately, a grand jury is composed of individuals who have only heard one side of the story. The effort is an attempt to convince the public that the effort of a trial is warranted. It shows the public that individuals hearing the complaints against the defendant agree with the prosecution’s interpretation of events. The grand jury voted to indict Crimo Jr. on seven counts of reckless conduct. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of three years, leaving Crimo Jr. vulnerable to a maximum 21-year sentence.
Is Crimo Jr. Responsible for His Son’s Conduct?
Illinois officials have emphasized re-entry services for inmates who have been convicted of serious crimes. But finding steady employment, even for those who earned master’s degrees while inside, remains difficult. Part of the issue is related to their incarceration, but another part of the issue has to do with the fact that employers are not likely to hire someone with a master’s degree for low-level warehouse work. The employer will figure they will get bored with the job and be gone in a few weeks.
Now one former inmate who was convicted of murder says he’s having difficulty finding work despite the fact that he has a master’s degree. It further becomes a problem when the former inmate has no legitimate means of earning money. The chances of that inmate going back to prison escalate exponentially.
What Prevents Former Inmates From Getting Jobs?
A police officer has resigned amid criminal charges that set off a battle between two Indiana police departments, each with their own version of what happened. According to the now-resigned officer, he was checking on an abandoned vehicle when another vehicle approached him. Believing that this vehicle had nearly struck him intentionally, the officer opened fire on the car. Inside was an off-duty police officer headed home. The off-duty police officer insists he did nothing wrong.
The victim has called the officer who stopped him “a danger to society” and stated that “he doesn’t deserve to wear a badge.” The officer is a 13-year veteran of the force who was cuffed and taken into custody after the other officer shot up his personal vehicle.
Anyone Can Become the Victim of Police Violence
This is part of the problem with the arguments against removing cash bail. The obvious thing is that cash bail does not prevent violent individuals from committing more violent crimes. It allows those who can afford to buy their way out of jail, do so. The idea that this makes you safer is silly.
Ending cash bail would give judges discretion over which cases an individual could be held for. In the case of sexual assault or other violent crimes, any form of bail would be denied.
In this case, a man was accused of sexually assaulting several female clients to whom he provided tattoos. He was charged with the crimes, bonded out of jail, and then committed several more sexual assaults. On Wednesday, he was denied bail.
Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog