A recent Illinois appeal involved a Domestic Battery. The defendant was acquitted of Aggravated Domestic Battery and unlawfully interfering with a report of Domestic Violence, but he was convicted of Domestic Battery under 720 ILCS 5/12-3.2(a)(1). The trial court denied his post-trial motion, and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He appealed on the grounds that the court had made a mistake in permitting the prosecution to impeach him with his felony Cannabis conviction. The case arose from allegations that the defendant knowingly caused harm to a woman by choking her after previously being convicted of a Domestic Battery. In addition to applying pressure to her throat, it was alleged that he stopped her normal breathing or blood circulation, and he knowingly stopped her from calling the police by taking her phone. Before trial, the defendant tried to stop the State from impeaching him by showing he had a prior Domestic Battery conviction and a felony Marijuana conviction. At ...

It is crucial to retain an experienced attorney to defend you if you’re charged with domestic battery or aggravated domestic battery in Illinois. In a recent Illinois appellate case, the defendant was convicted of aggravated domestic battery after a bench trial. The couple had met in 2011 and started an intimate relationship. The woman gave birth to their child. She had no permanent place of residence, so she stayed with the defendant at his house. They frequently argued, which caused her to leave for a certain period before coming back. In 2012, during a fight, the defendant threatened to kill her and put her in a chokehold. Their son was in a car seat on the floor. The mother flipped the defendant onto the floor, but he kept choking her for about two minutes until she had to stop. She left and called the cops, but she didn’t want medical treatment when an officer offered to call an ambulance. She filed an order of protection against the defendant, but she had no way to go back to ...

In 2010 the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office, in collaboration with Domestic Violence victims rights groups established the first Domestic Violence Diversion Program in Illinois. The main goal of this Diversion Program is to take first-time domestic violence offenders out of the criminal justice system and place them into a program that is designed to prevent them from becoming repeat offenders. Instead of putting them through the criminal justice system and punishing them, this program seeks to treat the causes behind the behavior. Treatment rather than punishment. If an offender successfully completes this program, the case will not be placed on their permanent criminal record. This is very important. While the vast majority of domestic battery cases are misdemeanors that carry a maximum punishment of one year in jail, a guilty plea, or a finding of guilt for a domestic battery, can never be removed from your permanent criminal record.  You cannot receive Court supervision fo...

The Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on changes to the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. This Act is commonly known as the Illinois Crime Victims Bill of Rights. This Act is designed to preserve, protect and enforce the guaranteed rights of Crime Victims throughout the criminal justice process. It requires that victims receive notice of all court dates, requires prosecutors to communicate with victims, and gives victims the right to be consulted when it comes to plea agreements and at sentencing hearings.  The changes that will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee will give crime victims the right to hire an attorney who will represent them during the entire criminal case so as to ensure that their rights are protected and enforced at no charge.  The attorney fee will be paid from the Crime Victim Compensation Fund. This Fund was established by the State Legislature to help victims of violent crime and their families to help reduce th...

This week the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case which expands the ability of the police to search a residence even though they had originally been denied consent. The case started when police arrived at the Los Angeles home of Walter Fernandez for a suspected Robbery.  When the police first arrived at Fernandez’s home, they asked for his consent to enter and search and he did not grant them consent to search.  The police then determined that he had committed a domestic battery on his girlfriend and arrested him.  An hour later, while Fernandez was under arrest at the police station, the police returned to his residence and obtained consent to search from his girlfriend.  When they searched his residence, they recovered weapons and other evidence which connected him to the Robbery.  He was eventually convicted of Robbery, gun and Domestic Battery charges and sentenced to 14 years in prison.  He appealed his conviction arguing that the police did not have the right...

The Cook County State’s Attorney Deferred Prosecution Program is a diversion program for adult felony defendants without a prior felony conviction that have been arrested for non-violent crimes. Participation to the program is at the sole discretion of the State’s attorney.The program placed the defendant into a 12 month intensive  program. Upon completion of the program, the State will then dismiss the case. The Defendant can then file to have the arrest record expunged upon dismissal. In Cook County, due to delays, it takes 6  to 12 months to have the arrest record expunged after the Petition to Expunge is filed.However, only probationable  offences of  Theft, Retail Theft, Forgery, Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle, Burglary, Possession  of Burglary Tools, Possession of Cannabis, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Methamphetamine are eligible for the program.The  defendant will not be eligible if the case involves Delivery of a Controlled Substance or if t...