Think you have to prove you are not guilty? Not in this country

If you've been arrested for an Illinois criminal offense or DUI, whether a felony or misdemeanor, you probably feel like your back is against the wall. You probably are turning it over in your mind in the middle of the night, worried you're forgetting something crucial. Because you believe you now have to prove your innocence.

Not in Chicago. Not in Illinois. Not in the United States of America.

We have a Constitution. That document notes that you, the defendant, have certain rights. Among those is the presumption of innocence, and the right to make the prosecution prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In the bad old days, and indeed in many countries today, you would indeed be called upon to prove you are not guilty of a criminal offense.

Watch the video for an explanation, and then pick up the phone and call 847-635-8200 for a free consultation.  If you'd like, you can also review our many other helpful videos about Illinois Criminal Lawyers and DUI Defense in the Chicago area.

Arrested for DUI. Lost Job. DUI Dismissed. Justice?

It happens. People get arrested for DUI and other criminal offenses every day. Many face the fear they'll lose their jobs over it. If their jobs are public enough, sometimes they even feel pressure to resign though they have a great criminal defense attorney, have every intention of fighting for themselves, and might actually not be guilty of the charges they face.

Consider the sad tale of one J. Randolph Babbitt. Yes, that Babbitt, the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration, who resigned in shame over his DUI arrest amid public outcry. UPI reports today that Mr. Babbitt's DUI was recently dismissed due a violation of Babbitt's Constitutional rights protecting him (and you) from unlawful arrest. The police must have probable cause to make an arrest for DUI, and in this case, the Judge did not see it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Babbitt is out of a job.

Justice?

Will this be another oops? Illinois trials to be televised?

From the Chicago Tribune:
Illinois trials may soon be televised

The Illinois Supreme Court is promulgating rules that will allow a more open courtroom by allowing court proceedings to be televised. While this change is meant to be positive, as with many governmental "advances", this may actually create complex problems down the road. The article notes the possibility that witnesses may feel uncomfortable coming forward, and that's a valid problem, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.

Illinois has laws allowing expungement or sealing of case information in many types of cases where defendants are found not guilty or the case is dismissed, and even in some felony matters resulting in conviction. Once a Court orders a case sealed or expunged, the information about the case is sealed or even destroyed. A potential employer, for instance, would not be able to see information about that case.

What's the point?

What about visual search? Never heard of visual search? If not, you will. It's a technology in its toddling stages, well past infancy. Go ahead and do a Google search for "Visual Search" and as of this moment, you'll find some 30,500,000 results. You plug in your image or photo and the search engine looks for related material. And facial recognition software? It's here now. Apple's iPhone and iPad? There's an app for that. Motorola's Xoom comes with facial recognition built in.

So you beat a criminal charge at trial and go through the process of expungement all with help from your local highly qualified Illinois Criminal defense attorneys, but guess what? Your trial was televised! And some soul with more time than tact uploaded a copy of the video to, where else, YouTube. So when you pop in for your job interview, your interviewer snaps a photo, uploads it to the Google of visual search (which will probably be Google) and presto chango - Illinois' expungement law is circumvented.

I can't help but wonder if this was considered by the Illinois Supreme Court? What do you think?

Troy Davis and the integrity of the legal system

Readers familiar with the Troy Davis case out of Georgia might wonder what I'm doing posting about this on a DUI blog.  Good question.  


For one thing, I focus on criminal defense in Illinois as well. For another, one of the great problems presented by DUI investigation and prosecution is a problem of general integrity in the legal system. 


Here we have just such a problem.  Seven of nine key witnesses have recanted their testimony?  When we, as a society, execute people, there must be no room whatsoever for doubt.  Even if Troy Davis is guilty in fact, and not just in law, this is a failure of our system of justice and a blight on it's integrity.


High court refuses to block Troy Davis execution  | ajc.com