Eyewitness Identification Expert Testimony at Trial Leads to Not Guilty

Eyewitness Identification Expert Dr. Geoffrey R. Loftus is a Professor at the University of Washington in  Seattle.  For 50 years, Dr. Loftus has been studying human perception and memory.  On January 24, 2017, Dr. Loftus flew to Chicago to testify as an eyewitness identification expert in a trial at the 26th Street court house in Chicago.  Chicago criminal...

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Health Care Workers Barred By Felony Convictions Can Now File For License With IDFPR

A new Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (“IDFPR”) state law taking effect in January will make it easier for previously barred health care workers and first-time applicants with felony convictions to once again become eligible for an Illinois license.

Effective January 2017, previously barred health care workers and...

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Illinois Supreme Court Holds That Changes to the Juvenile Court Act Apply to Pending Cases

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ex rel. ANITA ALVAREZ,
Petitioner, v. HONORABLE CAROL M. HOWARD et al., Respondents.  2016 IL 120729

Following a statutory amendment that raised the automatic transfer age for juveniles, defendant, Luis Montano, moved to send his pending criminal case to juvenile court for a discretionary transfer...

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New Amendments to Illinois Juvenile Transfer Statute Applies Retroactively to All Pending Criminal Cases

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ex rel. ANITA ALVAREZ,
Petitioner, v. HONORABLE CAROL M. HOWARD et al., Respondents.  2016 IL 120729

Following a statutory amendment that raised the automatic transfer age for juveniles, defendant, Luis Montano, moved to send his pending criminal case to juvenile court for a discretionary transfer...

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Mail Fraud, a Barber Who Don’t Cut Hair Straight and the “Lulling Letter” Doctrine

U.S. v. Kenneth Anderson, 809 F.2d 1281 (7th Cir. 1987)

(Ed. Note – Barber Kenneth Anderson used to cut Chicago attorney Michael J. Petro’s hair as a little boy).   

During the time of the events resulting in this case, Kenneth Anderson was a barber in Crown Point,...

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Warrants, Illegal Searches and the “Third Party Doctrine”

Someone used the email address gslabs@hotmail.com to contact a Vietnamese website in an attempt to buy sassafras oil—a chemical that can be used to make the illegal drug known as ecstasy.   A key step in the investigation was learning that Caira was the person behind the gslabs@hotmail.com address. The DEA made that discovery...

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“Official Acts” Definition- Must Know Rules For Politicians!

White Collar Attorney Michael J. Petro discusses rules public officials must know to avoid corruption charges for “official acts.”

Robert F. McDonnell v. United States, No. 15-474. Supreme Court of the United States.  Decided June 27, 2016.

In 2014, the Federal Government indicted former Virginia Governor Robert...

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