Criminal Lawyers' Court Call: 3/22/2013

On March 22, 2013, Raymond G. Wigell and Huma Rashid were at the Cook County Courthouse in Markham, Illinois, to handle a preliminary hearing.

Our client is charged with three counts of unlawfully acquiring/obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge (720 ILCS 570/406(b)(3)). He has not been indicted yet, and we finally received a copy of the pertinent police reports about five minutes before the preliminary hearing.

The State put on one witness, the responding police officer. The officer testified during the direct examination as to how he came to be called to the scene and his interrogation of the person he briefly detained (who was not our client). On cross, Raymond established that there was little evidence to connect our client to that particular fraudulent transaction.

Ultimately, the Judge made a finding of probable cause. This was expected, as the defense rarely wins at preliminary hearing because the threshold of proof is so low. Additionally, it is quite possible that the Judge ruled the way he did for the sake of expediency; had he ruled that there was no probable cause, the State would have taken the case to a grand jury, secured an indictment, and all four of us would have been in front of the same judge in couple months.

The case was pushed through to assignment and we made a demand for trial, and now we await the State's discovery so that we may better analyze our client's position.

Criminal Lawyers' Court Call: 3/20/2013

On Wednesday morning, Raymond G. Wigell and Huma Rashid were both in court. Raymond was at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Illinois, while Huma was at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview, IL.

Raymond had two cases up this morning. The first client is charged with Possession of Child Pornography, and this was a discovery status date. The State and the Defense are waiting for a full forensics report of the computer equipment involved, and the matter was continued for another status date in a month.

The second client is charged with a Felony DUI. His court date was scheduled for 9:30AM, and the client did not show up. Raymond persuaded the court to pass the case so he might wait for his client and attempt to locate him. Unfortunately, all attempts to locate the client were in vain, and an hour later, the court issued a warrant for his arrest. The client must turn himself in as soon as possible, and he forfeits his bond in not appearing before the court on a scheduled court date.

Huma's morning was not as eventful. She appeared in Bridgeview to represent a client on a status date for his supervision. The State asked that he pay fines and costs in order to be in compliance with the conditions of supervision, and the matter was continued to termination.

With that all wrapped up, but unfortunately still no word from our missing client, Raymond and Huma returned to the office.

Criminal Lawyers' Court Call: 03/18/2013

On Monday, March 18, 2013, Raymond G. Wigell and Huma Rashid were in the Cook County Courthouse on 26th and California to argue a motion in a felony sex case.

The client is charged in a multi-count indictment and is currently in custody. The charges are as follow:

• Ten (10) counts of Aggravated criminal Sexual Assault - 720 ILCS 5/11-1.30(a)(2) and 720 ILCS 5/11-1/30(a)(4).
• Three (3) counts of Aggravated Kidnapping - 720 ILCS 5/10-2(a)(3) 
• Twenty (20) counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse - 720 ILCS 5/11-1.60(a)(6) and 720 ILCS 5/11-1.60(a)(2) 
• One (1) count of Robbery - 720 ILCS 5/18-1(a) 
• One (1) count of Unlawful Restraint - 720 ILCS 5/10-3(a)

Huma Rashid argued a motion to keep the client housed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center past his seventeenth birthday. She aggressively presented mitigation in favor of her client's position while the State argued that he be transferred to the Cook County Detention Center.

The Honorable Judge denied the motion. The case was continued for another status date at which the State will have another chance to tender additional discovery.

Criminal Lawyers' Court Call: 3/13/2013

Yesterday morning, Raymond G. Wigell and Huma Rashid were in court at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Illinois, for a hearing on a lengthy motion.

It was a light day scheduling-wise. We normally try to schedule 2-3 court appearances on the same day in the same location because that is the most efficient way to schedule them. On Tuesday, however, we only had one client to take care of, and the matter was set for a hearing on a twenty-five page defense motion to exclude evidence that the defense contends is irrelevant.

Our client is charged in a two count indictment for Possession of Child Pornography. While the call was supposed to be for a hearing, in which both the state and defense would argue a motion to the Judge who would ultimately rule on the matter, the State requested a continuance in order to secure more time to file its response to the defense's motion.

The matter was continued for another six weeks. One week later, the matter will be heard before the Court. This means that Raymond and I will prepare our oral arguments in support of the defense motion, and also use the State's response in preparation once the response is filed.

Criminal Lawyers Court Call: 3/11/2013

On Monday, Huma Rashid appeared at Bridgeview on a Violation of Conditional Discharge.

Our client had been indicted for the Use of Forged Credit or Debit Card, and had been placed on conditional discharge for two years. The case had already been closed when our client was indicted again for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Unfortunately, since he was out on conditional discharge at that time, this triggered a violation. A Violation of a Bail Bond, Violation of Probation, and Violation of Conditional Discharge are all new cases, even though they are triggered by new cases, and arise out of older cases that have already been closed.

A notice to appear in court was sent out to our client, which he had not received, so a warrant was issued for his arrest. Our client's family paid bond and he was released not too long after his arrest, and this was the first court date on the new violation.

My task for the day was simple. I had to file my appearance, which is a letter to the court that announces my representation of the client in this matter. This catches up to the file so that all parties know who to speak to about anything concerning the defendant.

Shortly after filing my appearance, my case was called. I introduced myself to all parties as the attorney of record and informed the Judge, who I have appeared before several times, that I would request a copy of the State's Petition to Revoke Conditional Discharge, and I would ask for a date of continuance to be set so I had a chance to review it and talk about it with my client.

This particular Judge handles her violations on Mondays, so the case was continued to a Monday about seven weeks into the future. After the call was completed, I made copies of the Petition to Revoke and left the courthouse. It was a light day, because I only had one case on call in that particular courthouse while the senior attorney handled another court call in Skokie, involving Felony Burglary to Auto.

Weapons of Mass Incarceration

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Only in America do we spend $40,000 a year to incarcerate each prison inmate, and only $8,000 a year to educate each elementary school student.

While the monetary figures vary from state to state, with some states spending more per year on school children, and other states spending even more than $40,000 per year on inmate, this is an important issue that American lawmakers and the American public need to tackle.

At the Law Offices of Raymond G. Wigell, Ltd., several of the clients we represent are currently in custody, awaiting trial. These are clients for whom the bond - of which they must post 10% in order to walk free - is far too high, so they must remain in the custody of the Department of Corrections until trial or until their loved ones can come up with the money.

Not every family can access the tens of thousands of dollars often needed to secure a loved one's freedom (conditional on the eventual verdict in the case), which is a source of much frustration and devastation. Prison is not a nice place, and especially not in the Cook County jail system. I use prison and jail synonymously, even though there is a distinction. Jail refers to the institution in which people are held after arrest, and in anticipation of trial. Prison is the institution to which people are sent after a judge has sentenced them to a serve a certain amount of time for which they have already been convicted.

Many of the people in jail, awaiting trial, do not belong there and should not have been charged. And many people in prison should not be there for as long as they have to be. Abuse of police power and prosecutorial discretion, as well as disparity in sentencing, all contribute to the soaring numbers of people behind bars.

And the more people behind bars, the greater the financial and social cost to the country.

In the coming weeks, we at the blog for the Law Offices of Raymond G. Wigell, Ltd., will be publishing a series of posts looking at incarceration, sentencing, for-profit prisons, and the impact of all of these on society. These are issues we care about deeply, and which we fight against every day. We hope you'll come back soon and stay informed.

As always, if you or a loved one is the subject of a criminal investigation or is being charged, it's very likely that the main goal is to stay out of prison. That is what we at the Law Offices of Raymond G. Wigell, Ltd., fight for. Contact us at (708) 481 - 4800, and let us help you in your time of need. Attorneys are available 24/7, and the first consultation is always free.

Police Terrorize Child Over Allegedly Stolen $5

 

Last week, a young Hispanic man accused of stealing was handcuffed to a railing at a Bronx police department and interrogated by officers for over ten hours.

This story is not all that uncommon and based on the details above, it fails to shock and enrage. It is not unusual to hear of young men being subjected to grueling police interrogations during the course of a criminal investigation.

But here are the details that make this event truly shocking: the subject of this ten hour interrogation was a seven year old boy. He was accused of stealing $5.

Wilson Reyes’s family members were shocked to enter the Bronx precinct where he was being held and find him handcuffed to a railing. He was wrongly accused of taking $5 from another student on the playground, and was subjected to physical restraints and verbal abuse for a total of ten hours at the hands of the NYPD.

The boy’s family is filing a $250 million claim against the city and the NYPD for the brutality. The robbery charge has since been dropped, and another child confessed to stealing the $5 from the victim. While the NYPD continued to argue that the child was held for a reasonable period of time, the family lawyer, Jack Yankowitz, had this to say: “It’s unfathomable, what the police did. The whole thing sounds so stupid. They were interrogating him like he was a hardened criminal. …If you have a child, a nephew, can you even imagine this happening to them?”

This story is a difficult one to process, and one can’t help but empathize with this poor child and his family. Little Wilson Reyes – and many other children like him who have experienced this – will remember this event for the rest of his life. When he’s seventeen years old, old enough to be charged as an adult, he may see a cop harassing someone. He’ll intervene and get charged with assault on an officer and be packed off to the local Department of Corrections, and that will be that. That is the nature of the life-long ritual abuse at the hands of the justice department.

But even if nothing even close to that ever happens, consider for a moment that this happened in a country that considers spanking to be child abuse. At the very least, this child will carry these traumatic events with him for the rest of his life. He’ll suffer from anxiety issues and very likely Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well, all at the hands of the people that ‘help solve crime.’ And that is what is criminal.

For many people, particularly minorities, instances of police misconduct and overreaction like this are a reality. There are numerous stories that make the news – and countless more that do not – of unconscionably long interrogations, food and sleep deprivation, freezing temperatures, verbal abuse, beatings, and other police misconduct.

As defense attorneys, we at the Law Offices of Raymond G. Wigell, Ltd., have had many clients come in with accounts of being mistreated by police. The accounts vary, but the sense of humiliation, fear, and severe stress our clients experienced is always the same. While this law firm does not handle these civil complaints against local police departments, we use our indignation over the treatment our clients suffered to help us in our fight to defend their rights and defeat the charges made against them.

If you or a loved one is the subject of a criminal investigation or has been charged with a crime, time is of the essence. Let us at the Law Offices of Raymond G. Wigell, Ltd., use our 37 years of experience to help you in your time of need. Attorneys are available 24/7 and the first consultation is always free. Contact us at (708) 481 – 4800.