Having a gun on your person or in your car in Illinois without a concealed carry permit is a gun crime. Illinois does not allow open carry, which is the practice of openly having a firearm in public. Therefore, in order to go anywhere with a gun outside of your home, you must have a concealed carry permit in Illinois (excluding transportation of firearms, which only requires the gun to be contained in an enclosed case). 

Only people who are 21 and older, who have completed the appropriate training course, and who have a Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) may have a concealed carry permit, and only handguns may be concealed. While following these rules may seem onerous, they are absolutely essential for preventing criminal charges. If you have been charged with a concealed carry permit violation, you may want the help of a criminal defense attorney. 

Concealed Carry License Violations in Illinois

Certain areas may not have guns brought into them, even with a concealed carry license. Schools, government buildings such as courthouses, and buildings in state and national parks do not allow concealed carrying. Carrying or using a firearm illegally in these places, even with a concealed carry license, is considered an Unlawful Use of a Weapon (UUW) offense. 

Driving while drunk is a criminal offense in the state of Illinois. As such, if you are pulled over because you have been found to be operating a motor vehicle with alcohol in your system, you could be subjected to an array of penalties for breaking the law. 

Illinois Laws Regarding Driving While Drunk 

In Illinois, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content (BAC) equal to or greater than 0.08% is considered intoxicated per se.  In other words, anyone driving a vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration that exceeds 0.079% is considered to be driving while drunk. However, it is possible to face arrest for driving under the influence even if your BAC is under the legal limit. It is also illegal to operate a vehicle if you are impaired by prescription medications or controlled substances. 

Individuals who are operating commercial vehicles, such as school bus drivers, with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.04% are also legally drunk in the eyes of Illinois law. If you are under the age of twenty-one and operating any type of motor vehicle in Illinois, you can face penalties under the Illinois Zero Tolerance policy if your blood-alcohol concentration exceeds zero. 

Under Illinois criminal law, when a person is charged with a serious crime, it is up to the prosecutor to take the legal steps to charge the accused with a felony crime. There are cases where a prosecutor will decide not to pursue felony charges, and the charges the police arrested the accused on are dropped, even if the police disagree with the prosecutor’s decision. However, a group of Illinois lawmakers are seeking to change all that and have recently filed legislation that would allow police chiefs to override the prosecutor’s decision.

Felony Process

Under the current law, there is a standard process that every case must go through before a person can be charged with a felony. The first step to this process is the police investigation. If the police feel they have probable cause to charge a person they suspect of committing a crime, they will place them under arrest. In some cases, this involves obtaining an arrest warrant, while in other cases – such as during a traffic stop – the officer can arrest the individual right on the spot.

After they are arrested, the accused will have a bond hearing where they will enter their plea of guilty or not guilty, and the judge will decide if the defendant can be released on bond and how much that bond should be.

One of the rights that an accused has under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution is the “right to a speedy and public trial.” Although the amendment does not define exactly how long “speedy” is, both the federal government and Illinois have passed laws that define how long a prosecutor has to bring a defendant to trial.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed all that, with shutdowns of the Illinois court system, forcing those time limits to be tolled (paused). Although some proceedings were held via Zoom, the majority of trials have been on hold. However, as of October 1, that pause has been lifted and defendants now have that right to a speedy trial again.

Illinois Law

Under the Illinois speedy trial law, there must be a trial within 120 days for defendants who are in custody. If the individual is out on bond, then there must be a trial within 160 days. If those deadlines cannot be met, the charges against them will be dismissed. The state also has a compulsory joinder law that also protects a person’s right to a speedy trial. This law means that if a defendant is facing multiple charges from the same arrest, prosecutors must bring those charges in one single prosecution act. In other words, there cannot be an individual trial for each individual charge.

When considering what to expect in a criminal trial, the average person likely thinks of the court proceedings they have seen in movies or television shows. While that may provide the most basic understanding of a trial, there are many smaller pieces that often get left out. This blog will briefly go over each step of the trial process that a criminal defendant can expect. It is important to note that there are many ways a trial may veer from this path, but if you are facing a criminal trial, it is highly recommended that you find a criminal defense attorney who can help prepare you for the following stages.

Jury Selection

In the United States, criminal defendants have the right to be tried by an impartial jury. The court and attorneys have the responsibility to appropriately and thoroughly examine the jurors prior to trial. The examination is meant to remove any jurors who demonstrate any bias, opinion, or prejudice that could impact their decision-making ability in regard to the crime at hand.

Opening Statements

Once the jury has been selected, the trial can begin, starting with opening statements. The prosecution has the burden of proof and will give their statement first. It is critical for the prosecution to refrain from using any derogatory language when describing the defendant. Once finished, the defense will then have their turn. Both parties will take the opportunity to detail the case, their perspective, and an outline of what they hope to prove.