Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog

June 5, 2019

Alderman Charged with Corruption Pleads Not Guilty

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

Ald. Edward Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption including racketeering and bribery. The 59-page indictment accuses Burke of using his political office to steer business to his tax law firm. In addition, Burke is accused of blocking a plan to raise admission fees at a local museum because the museum had yet to deliver a chit involving an internship for a crony’s daughter.

Now, if you are a regular type of person, you are probably scratching your head. How is any of that illegal? It happens every day. Well, when you position yourself in the crosshairs of powerful people, just about everything can be made illegal. In this case, the alderman and others were the target of an ongoing federal sting that involved no small amount of intrigue.

Federal Investigation Targeted Chicago City Hall

May 31, 2019

Details Surface Concerning Protective Order Against Mercy Hospital Shooter

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

Juan Lopez, the man who gunned down a police officer and two hospital employees (one of whom was his former fiance) before turning the gun on himself, is now known to have had an order of protection filed against him by his ex-wife. The same day, the man entered her home, stole some of her property, and then destroyed everything else. His ex-wife told officers that the man responsible for destruction and theft had a key to the place and that she had a protective order issued for her husband. Detectives never questioned Lopez, however, who would have been the key suspect in any follow-up investigation.

Reports Unearthed Years After Shooting

The Chicago Tribune unearthed the report years after the shooting after an open records request. The details raised renewed concerns about how seriously law enforcement takes restraining orders. In this case, the wife had a restraining order against her husband and the husband appeared to violate that restraining order, in the process, committing a serious crime. However, police never followed up on the lead and Lopez went on to commit an even more serious crime.

May 29, 2019

Defendant Acquitted in Kyrian Knox Murder

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

Kamel Harris, the man accused of killing and dismembering 2-year-old Kyrian Knox, was acquitted this week by a Chicago jury. The prosecution did not have a strong case against Harris, a fact we discussed in a recent blog post. The prosecution relied heavily on a patchwork motive that they generated out of a lack of possibilities.

Police claimed that Harris, who was looking after Knox “snapped one day” because the baby would not stop crying. Police claimed that the baby was lactose intolerant and was having a bad reaction to milk. However, Kyrian’s mother, Lanisha Knox, told jurors that her son had no such allergy.

Harris maintained his innocence throughout the trial. He contended that Lanisha Knox had sent three men in a van to collect her son from Harris and Harris lost track of the boy once he was in their custody.

May 24, 2019

Trial of Man Accused of Murdering Police Officer Begins

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

Michael Bailey was about to retire when prosecutors say that Antwon Carter attempted to steal the Buick he had bought himself as an early retirement present. Police say that Bailey attempted to defend himself, but Carter fired back. After Bailey’s wife, Pamela, heard the shots, she ran down the stairs and found her husband lying with his eyes open on the ground. He later died at the hospital.

While Bailey was off duty, he had just finished his shift and was still wearing his uniform when the altercation took place. The crime went unsolved for a year until inmates claim that Carter bragged about the shooting. The case is now a decade old.

Carter is being charged with felony murder, among other things.

May 22, 2019

Trial Begins for Man Accused of Dismemberment of 2-Year-Old Boy

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

The body of 2-year-old Kirien Knox was found dismembered in Garfield Park Lagoon. The shocking details of the slaying moved those who witnessed the photos to tears. The man charged with the murder, Kamel Harris, has pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution, the boy’s mother, Lanisha Knox, left her son with Harris and five others at an apartment while Knox headed out to set up a new life in Iowa, get jobs, and find an apartment. At some point, Harris stopped responding to calls or texts made by Knox.

Police and the prosecution believe that, at some point, Harris “snapped” and murdered the boy and then tried to dispose of the body. However, they did not list a cause of death. They did, however, indicate that Harris snapped because the boy cried incessantly after a “painful reaction to milk.”

May 17, 2019

Teen Sentenced to 45 Years for Stabbing Her Mother

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

17-year-old Chastinea Reeves pleaded guilty to stabbing her own mother over 60 times. The girl was given a 45-year sentence for the slaying. Her mother, Jamie Garnett was found dead in her home. Reeves was 15 at the time of the murder and she was charged as an adult. The plea avoided the trial and a potential sentence of 65 years in prison had she been convicted of the murder. If she serves the full term, she will be 62 years old when she is released.

The state’s case appeared to the defense to be rock solid. The prosecution had the murder weapon with the victim’s blood on it and what they described as a “perfect” fingerprint. They also had two witnesses who were given plea deals and were willing to testify against Reeves at the trial.

Amber Alert Used to Apprehend Reeves

May 15, 2019

Parents Charged in Death of 5-Year-Old AJ Freund

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

As evidence mounts against the parents of AJ Freund, the media frenzy around the case casts a shadow over the possibility that the Freunds will get a fair trial. According to police, the boy’s father Drew Freund told police that he “beat” the boy and administered cold showers as punishment. The police also indicated the father led investigators to the boy’s body in a remote location in Woodstock.

Physical evidence against the father continues to pile up. This includes a shovel, soil samples linking the shovel to the burial site, muddy shoes that could link the father to the burial site, and a search he performed on his phone concerning how to perform CPR on a child.

Police Have Begun Trying This Case in the Press

May 10, 2019

Will Pharma “Kingpins” Face Criminal Charges for Opioid Crisis?

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

For the first time, executives whose companies peddled billions of dollars worth of opioids and created millions of addicts are having criminal charges thrown at them. This represents a marked departure from civil lawsuits filed by individual states that sought to recover medical costs related to the opioid epidemic.

The prisons are filled with street-level dealers and major players who trafficked in drugs like heroin and fentanyl. However, those who did so above the law have been, more or less, untouchable until now.

Federal authorities are now targeting major executives of opioid medication companies with similar charges related to drug trafficking. With so much nationwide sympathy for the lives that these companies have destroyed, it is quite possible that these criminal charges will be successful.

May 8, 2019

Legally Blind Witness Pins Crime on Teen

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

In most courtrooms, you will note the image of Lady Justice who carries scales and is blindfolded. This carries the connotation that justice or the criminal justice system should be (but is not) blind to prejudice and other characteristics of the baser intellect. No better (nor ironic) evidence of this fact can be shown in the case of a black teen who was given 76 years on the word of a legally blind witness.

How did this happen? Well, let us take a look.

First, you have a defendant who is wearing an orange jumpsuit. Second, you have a compliant witness who probably could not pick the defendant out of a lineup but nonetheless could pick out an orange jumpsuit. Then, the prosecutor asked the witness if he could identify the man who shot two people, killing one and wounding another. The witness identified the man in the orange jumpsuit.

May 3, 2019

Terror Suspect Faces Sentencing

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

Adel Daoud will now face sentencing after pleading guilty (sort of) to conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempts to commit terrorism. Daoud was led by the hand to commit acts of terror against the American people by undercover FBI agents. He pushed a button on a detonator that he believed would set off a 1000-pound car bomb that could have killed hundreds of people. Daoud sat in the passenger seat of a car beside a federal agent and prayed that this would be their first operation, not their last.

Daoud had set himself up for the sting after lengthy social media posts alerted the federal government to his attitude. They say that he believed he was on a mission from God to harm infidels. The federal agent coaxed Daoud to commit an act that he believed was terrorism against the American people.

Does That Constitute Entrapment?