DISCLAIMER: Any result our lawyers have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate that similar results can be obtained for other clients. No lawyer can ever make you a promise or guarantee about how your specific case will turn out. It is necessary to carefully consider the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client’s case before coming up with an opinion or any estimation of potential outcomes.
DOMESTIC BATTERY – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with domestic battery and we set the case for a jury trial. During the trial Attorney James was able to expose several inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s story. The trial lasted 2 days. The jury deliberated only six minutes and found our client not guilty.
DUI – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with driving under the influence and we set the case for a jury trial. During the trial the State had presented the testimony of multiple Sheriff’s Deputies. Once the State had finished presenting its case, Attorney Jonathan James made a motion for a directed finding and the court granted that motion finding that even in the light most favorable to the State, they failed to meet their burden of proof and found our client not guilty.
UNAUTHORIZED VIDEO RECORDING OF A MINOR- WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with unauthorized video recording of a minor. We set the case for trial. The State called several witnesses, which we were able to successfully cross examine. At the end of the day, there were several inconsistencies in the State’s case and the court returned a verdict of not guilty.
AGGRAVATED UNLAWFUL USE OF A WEAPON – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with two counts aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. If convicted our client would have been sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections for 1-3 years. During the trail, the arresting officer claimed he saw our client running with a firearm. Attorney James was able to successfully cross examine the officer and the ISP Forensic techs that processed all the evidence. The jury deliberated only 25 minutes and returned a not guilty verdict on all counts.
AGGRAVATED BATTERY – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with Aggravated Battery of a child and Domestic Battery. During the course of representation we filed a notice of self-defense claiming that the alleged victim was the initial aggressor in the situation and the child in question suffered injuries as a result of the alleged victim’s actions. Attorney Jonathan James took the case to jury trial and was able to successfully cross-examine the alleged victim and the arresting officers. Once the all the testimony and evidence was heard, the jury deliberated for less than an hour and returned a verdict of not guilty.
DOMESTIC BATTERY – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was with Domestic Battery and Disorderly Conduct. During the course of representation we filed a notice of self-defense claiming that the alleged victim was the initial aggressor in the situation. Attorney Jonathan James took the case to trial and was able to successfully cross-examine the alleged victim and the arresting officer. Once the all the testimony and evidence was heard, the court returned a verdict of Not Guilty in favor of our client.
DUI – DEKALB COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was stopped for a lane violation and eventually arrested for Driving Under the Influence. The arresting officer claimed that our client had failed field sobriety testing. The case was set for trial and we were able to successfully pick apart the officer’s administration of the field sobriety test and after trial our client was found not guilty on all counts, including the lane violation.
DUI – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with a third offense for driving under the influence and driving while license suspended. The police made contact with our client under a community care taking function after they saw our client’s vehicle parked in a private parking lot. Attorney Jonathan James was able to successfully argue a motion to suppress evidence which excluded the majority of the evidence from trail. The case was subsequently set for trial, and based on the lack of evidence, the court directed a verdict in favor of our client returning a verdict of not guilty on all charges.
ARSON – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was charged with arson and the case was set for a preliminary hearing. The State presented circumstantial evidence at the hearing and Attorney Jonathan James was able to successfully cross examine the police officer and the court returned a finding of no probable cause, which led to the dismissal of the felony charges pending against our client. Should our client have been convicted, the sentencing range would have been between 3-7 years in the Illinois Department of Correction.
DUI – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was charged with driving under the influence after he went through a DUI checkpoint. Despite our client submitting to chemical testing that showed a BAC more than twice the limit, Attorney Jonathan James filed a motion to quash the arrest citing that the Illinois State Police established the roadblock contrary to the law. Attorney James was able to prove that the ISP roadblock failed to comply with the law in that there was no systematic pattern for stopping cars, there was not a politically accountable official that was responsible for creating the policies and procedures of the roadblock, and there were no protocols put in place at a standard operating procedure meeting prior to setting up the DUI checkpoint. After the hearing, the court found the roadblock to be illegal and our client’s case was subsequently dismissed.
DELIVERY OF COCAINE CLASS X FELONY – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was charged with delivery of cocaine based on circumstantial evidence. The case was set for a preliminary hearing where the State presented testimony and evidence to establish probable cause for the offense. Should our client have been found guilty of the charge, the sentencing range would have been between 6-30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. However, Attorney Jonathan James was able to successfully pick apart the State’s circumstantial evidence and the court returned a finding of no probable cause and the case was subsequently dismissed.
DUI – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client with charged with DUI after being stopped by the police for an alleged lane violation. Even though our client had a BAC that was more than twice the legal limit, Attorney James filed a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence collected during the DUI investigation citing the arresting officer’s lack of probable cause to initiate a traffic stop or arrest our client for DUI. During the hearing, the arresting officer admitted he did not know many of the procedures that are supposed to be followed when conducting field sobriety testing. Additionally, video evidence presented at the hearing showed that our client never committed a traffic violation prior to the officer initiating the traffic stop. The court ruled the officer did not have probable cause for the traffic stop and ordered the arrested quashed, which led to a dismissal of all charges that were pending against our client.
FELONY THEFT – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was charged with stealing an ATV and charged with felony theft. The State elected to have a preliminary hearing in order to find probable cause to move forward with the prosecution of the felony matter. At hearing, Attorney Jonathan James was able to successfully cross examine the police officer and the court ruled in favor of our client finding no probable cause to proceed forward with the charge and the case was subsequently dismissed.
RESISTING A PEACE OFFICER – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with obstructing or resisting a peace officer after an unrelated traffic offense ended up spilling over into our client’s front yard. The arresting officer claimed that our client had tried to obstruct his investigation of that traffic offense, however, Attorney James was able to pick apart the officer’s testimony and present other witnesses that contradicted the officer’s testimony. At the end of the jury trial, the court directed a verdict in favor of the Defense finding our client not guilty.
DUI – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with driving under the influence after he was stopped by police at a gas station. The state vigorously prosecuted the case and assigned two attorneys to the trial team. During the State’s case in chief, they called a 17 year veteran of the police department who was one of the most experienced officers in conducting field sobriety testing. Attorney James was able to pick apart the officer’s administration of the tests and court found that the State had not met its burden of proof and directed a verdict in favor of the Defense.
AGGRAVATED BATTERY – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with two counts of aggravated battery to 2 different police officers. The case proceeded to a Jury trial. Over the course of the 3 day trial, several witnesses were call, including multiple police officers. The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours and returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts.
DUI – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was arrested for driving under the influence and submitted to chemical testing which yielded a BAC more than twice the legal limit. We filed a petition to rescind statutory summary suspension and a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. At hearing, we challenged the officer’s reasonable suspicion for initiating a traffic stop. The Officer claimed that our client pulled out in front of him and he had to slam on his brakes to avoid an accident. Additionally the arresting officer claimed that, while tailing our client, he observed our client swerve and almost hit a cluster of parked cars on two separate occasions. We presented the video from the Officer’s squad car and argued that our client was exercising reasonable care while driving and did not violate any provision of the Illinois Vehicle Code. After viewing the video and hearing the arguments, the Trial Court agreed that the officer did not have a reasonable basis to initiate a traffic stop. The Court noted that the Officer only decelerated from 29 mph to 22 mph and characterized the officer’s braking as a “tap” and not consistent with someone slamming on brakes to avoid an accident. The State appealed the case to the District Court. Upon review, the Appellate Court unanimously agreed with the Trial Court and upheld the Court’s decision to quash the arrest of our client and rescind the statutory summary suspension.
DUI – BOONE COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was arrested for driving under the influence. We filed a petition to rescind statutory summary suspension and a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. We used to video in the arresting officer’s squad car to critique his administration of the field sobriety test. The court ruled the arresting officer improperly administered the field sobriety test and documented clues of impairment that were not seen on the video. Because of this, the Court found the arresting officer did not have probable cause to arrest our client for DUI. As a result, our client’s license suspension was rescinded and the case was dismissed.
DUI – DEKALB COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was stopped for a lane violation and eventually arrested for DUI Drug. The arresting officer claimed our client was under the influence of cannabis despite not finding any cannabis on our client or detecting an odor of cannabis when interacting with our client. During our examination of the officer, he admitted that he was not a certified drug recognition examiner and the only training he received in detecting persons under the influence of drugs was a 3 hour power point presentation. After hearing the evidence, the Court found that the arresting officer did not have the necessary qualification to determine whether an individual was under the influence of cannabis and returned a verdict of not guilty.
DISTRIBUTION OF CANNABIS – JO DAVIESS COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was stopped for speeding and the police officer made our client wait while a drug detection canine was called to the scene. Our client’s vehicle was eventually searched and our client was arrested for felony delivery of cannabis. We filed a motion a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The court found that the arresting officer had no basis to keep our client at the scene while waiting for a drug detection canine. As a result the evidence from the search was suppressed and the case was dismissed.
DUI – BOONE COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was arrested for driving under the influence. We filed a petition to rescind statutory summary suspension and a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. During our examination of the officer, he testified that he had never seen the NHTSA manual for DWI detection and was unaware of its contents. The court ruled the arresting officer improperly administered the field sobriety test and found the officer lacked probable cause to arrest our client for DUI. As a result, our client’s license suspension was rescinded and the case was dismissed.
DUI – DEKALB COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was stopped for a headlight violation and eventually arrested for DUI. Despite submitting to chemical testing that showed our client’s BAC was below .08, the State’s Attorney’s Office still vigorously prosecuted the case assigning 2 prosecutors to try the case in hopes of getting a conviction against our client. After hearing the evidence, the Judge found the state had not met its burden of proof and issued a directed verdict in favor of our client.
DUI – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was involved in an accident where his car slid off the road and was eventually charged with DUI. When the police officer arrived, he placed our client in handcuffs and transported him to the police station that was approximately 30 minutes from the crash site. At the police station, the officer administered field sobriety testing on our client and then arrested him for DUI. We filed a petition to rescind statutory summary suspension and motion to quash arrest arguing the officer arrested our client without probable cause. The court ruled that our client was placed under arrest when the officer put our client in handcuffs then transported him across the entire county. The court further ruled that at the time our client was placed under arrest, the officer had not collected enough evidence to establish probable cause for the arrest. As a result, our clients license suspension was rescinded and the case was dismissed.
SOLICITATION – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with solicitation as a result of a sting operation conducted by the Rockford Police Dept. We took case to trial, the jury deliberated less than ten minutes and our client was found not guilty.
DOMESTIC BATTERY – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with Domestic Battery. Due to the no-drop policy for domestic battery cases, the prosecutor would not reduce or dismiss the charge. We took case to trial and our client was found not guilty.
POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
We argued newly implemented legislation to the prosecutor that does not allow the State to bring criminal charges in certain circumstances. As a result, the prosecutor agreed that the new law was applicable and the case was dismissed.
DRUG POSSESSION – STEPHENSON COUNTY
Outcome: Case Dismissed
Description:
Our client was stopped by the police and placed under arrest due to a faulty warrant. As a result of the arrest, the police searched our client’s car and our client was charged with drug possession. We filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The court ruled that because the officer was executing an unlawful warrant, any search that occurred because of that warrant was also unlawful and suppressed all evidenced that was gained from the search. As a result, the case was dismissed.
DUI – WINNEBAGO COUNTY
Outcome: Not Guilty
Description:
Our client was charged with driving under the combined influence of drugs and alcohol. Because there was an accident in the case our client was also charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. We took the case to trial and it was found that the arresting officer did not have the proper expertise to opine whether our client was under the influence of drugs, which is an essential element of the charge. As a result our client was found not guilty on both charges.