My client and two (2) other individuals robbed two separate individuals within a short period of time. My client was armed with a gun. They were wearing masks the whole time during both of the robberies. The police department found video surveillance in a nearby apartment building which captured my client and his friends running in the stairwell minutes after the robberies removing their masks. The police department showed that video to other law enforcement officers who identified the individuals by name. With that information, the detectives went to my clients school and arrested him. At the police station, my client made full incriminating statements regarding his involvement in the armed robbery. The sentence for this crime is between 21 and 45 years in prison because he was charged with carrying a firearm during the commission of the robbery. The firearm alone adds 15 years to the minimum. I filed a motion to quash arrest alleging that there was no probable cause to arrest my client at school. After numerous witnesses and numerous days of testimony, the judge agreed with my arguments and granted my motion to quash arrest! All evidence and statements were suppressed.
After I won my motion to suppress evidence, the prosecutor filed a “Motion for Attenuation.” The prosecutor argued that even though the arrest was illegal, the prosecution should still be able to use my client’s statement he made at the police department against him at trial. I argued that since the arrest was illegal, the State of Illinois should not be able to benefit from that illegal action and use the statements of my client. The judge agreed with me and ruled that none of my clients statements can be used against him. The prosecutor’s case was so crippled because of my motion to suppress that they dismissed all charges. My client went from facing up to 45 years in prison to being set free!
