ILLINOIS CRIMINAL ATTORNEY DIRECTORY

Illinois Listings: Chicago Christopher M.Cosley Cook County Fagan, Fagan & Davis Du Page County Norris & Callahan Geneva Van Der Snick Law Firm Naperville Ryan & Kawadias Wheaton Stephen A. Brundage

Every criminal defense attorney listed here has at least five years experience as a criminal trial attorney. You can see the number of years each attorney has practiced below his name listing, link.

Illinois criminal law is governed by statutes or written laws passed by the Legislature and published in compilations called Codes. The Illinois Criminal Code sets out the different crimes, defines them, and shows the level or range of punishment associated with each crime. It is organized generally into categories of crimes, i.e., crimes against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against the public.

The Code of Criminal Procedure of the State of Illinois determines how criminal trials and hearings, including pretrial and post-trial proceedings are conducted, and regulates a host of other activities, rights, and duties of citizens and law enforcement personnel.

Choosing An Illinois Criminal Attorney

There are lots and lots of advice columns on the Internet about how to choose an Illinois criminal attorney. We have read many of them, and we have picked what we consider the best for you from what we found - even though it does not specifically refer to choosing Illinois criminal attorneys.

This piece from aQueens, NY, criminal law office is excellent. Blunt, to be sure, but very good advice. Follow it to the tee if you can. It will stand you in good stead and help you avoid the pitfalls of hiring a criminal attorney to competently and effectively represent you in court.

Your Rights As A Criminal Defendant

Beyond the rights guaranteed to you by the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution, the Illinois Constitution’s Bill of Rights provides a number of important additional rights which any judge or prosecutor must provide you. However, it also contains a section on victim’s rights guaranteeing the right to restitution, among other things.

The Illinois Constitution is far more specific than the US version. In Sections 6 through 14 it lays out in great detail what rights it guarantees to the criminally accused. Among those are “Searches, Seizures, Privacy and Interceptions” (Section 6), Indictment and Preliminary Hearing (Section 7), Rights After Indictment (Section 8), Bail and Habeas Corpus (Sec. 9), Self-Incrimination and Double Jeopardy (Sec. 10), Limitation on Penalties after Conviction (Sec. 11), Right to Remedy and Justice (Sec. 12), Trial By Jury (Sec. 13), and Imprisonment for Debt (Sec. 14, which guarantees you cannot be imprisoned for inability to pay a criminal fine unless you were afforded adequate time to pay and wilfully failed to do so.

HINT: Make a cheat sheet out of a few rights guaranteed by the Illionois Constitution and quiz your prospective Illinois criminal attorney on them while you check his answers. He should be able to pass this little "test" with flying colors. If he doesn't - be careful. Those are the very rights of yours he is supposed to protect in court!

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