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Recent Blog Posts
Illinois wife's alimony award upheld by Cook County Court
A Cook County appeals court recently upheld an $800 monthly alimony award in favor of Amy Kawiecki.
Her ex-husband, David Kawiecki attempted to appeal the award but lost recently.
Issues of alimony and maintenance are a highly complicated area of Illinois divorce law. Appealing an alimony decision is also extremely difficult to do and requires an experienced divorce attorney.
Generally an appeals court presumes that a trial court's award of alimony is correct. An Illinois appeals court will only overturn an award of alimony due to an "abuse of discretion" of the trial court, which occurs when no reasonable person would have taken the view of the trial court. It is also up to the party appealing to prove that the trial court abused its discretion.
In the Kawiecki case, David alleged that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding maintenance because Amy received 63.5% of the parties' income after including her earnings, child support and maintenance. The appeals court noted that this disparity wasn't an issue because Amy worked part-time during their 17 year marriage and devoted much of her time to maintaining the household and helping raise their three children.
Appeals court severely restricts father's visitation rights
A Will County, Illinois, appeals court recently affirmed the severe restriction of a father's visitation rights to his children.
This case highlights the impact of mental health and substance abuse issues on a marriage and the effect that it can have in subsequent child custody and visitation orders.
The father and mother of the children were married in 2000 and had two children together. The mother filed for divorce in spring of 2009, alleging extreme and repeated mental cruelty and alleging that here was an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
As with many divorces, the couple quarreled extensively over child custody and visitation. Both spouses alleged that the other was mentally unstable and acted inappropriately around the children. Emergency orders flew back and forth and the courts had to decide which parent to believe.
In this case, the court eventually ordered the father to undergo a Rule 215 evaluation. The examining doctor said that the father had a mood disorder and character problems such as narcissism or paranoia. Although the doctor did not consider the father to pose a physical threat to the children, she was concerned with his breaks from reality and alcohol consumption.
Susan McWilliams's drunk driving conviction affirmed by Lake County court
The drunk driving conviction of Susan M. McWilliams was recently affirmed by a Lake County court. McWilliams was arrested in November of 2009 when an officer reportedly saw her weaving within her lane and crossing white traffic lines. The officer also claimed that McWilliams almost caused an accident with the car next to her.
When the arresting officer approached Susan McWilliams' car, the officer had to slap the truck of the car and yell her to park her car because it was rolling backward. The officer said that McWilliams was busy trying to put the parking brake on despite the car being in neutral instead of park.
The arresting officer also said that McWilliams had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. She also found it incredibly difficult to find and produce her driver's license for the officer.
Despite claiming that she hadn't been drinking, McWilliams allegedly smelled strongly of alcohol and failed multiple field sobriety tests.
Prosecutors can use squad car video in DUI case, court says
A Cook County Appeals Court recently dealt a severe blow the defense in a drunk driving case. The case involves a man named Brandon Bailey who was arrested for drunk driving in 2011. The officer who arrested Bailey claimed that he was driving over 30 miles over the posted speed limit, made improper lane usage, and failed to signal in addition to driving while intoxicated.
During the discovery phase of the trial, Bailey requested the footage from the police car (in-squad video) which supposedly showed his stop and arrests. The state failed to provide the video in a timely manner so the trial court sanctioned the state by barring the video and anything it could have showed from trial.
The trial court also rescinded the summary suspension of Bailey's driver's license.
It appeared that Bailey would walk away from his criminal charges because the state was barred from presenting evidence including his field sobriety test and driving which could have been on the in-squad video. This harsh sentenced compelled the state to produce the video and ask the trial court to reverse the exclusion of the evidence.
Peoria Court Affirms Home Invasion Sentence
A Peoria County appeals court recently affirmed the conviction of a man accused to participating in a home invasion. Defendant Jordan Tennon was convicted of home invasion and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Tennon appealed his sentence alleging that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him to 27 years when the minimum sentence for home invasion was 21 years
Authorities accused Tennon and others of invading the home of a drug dealer in hopes of finding money and drugs. About $2,000 and some marijuana paraphernalia was stolen during the home invasion. Authorities say that some of the home occupants were also assaulted and that one of the occupants was pistol-whipped.
Tennon was allegedly found in possession of $1,000 and a handgun holster as he ran outside of the house and attempted to flee through the home's backyard. Tennon allegedly admitted to participating in the heist and directed officers to the location of the gun.
In claiming that his sentence was excessive, Tennon pointed out that he was 19 years old at the time of the robbery and had no prior criminal history.
The Legality of Terry Stops Involving Informants in Illinois
Illinois residents are protected against illegal searches and seizures under the state and federal constitutions. Challenging the legality of a police search is an effective way to combat many criminal charges because prosecutors cannot use evidence which has been illegally obtained.
Chicago police officers have the right to stop and question a person if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that criminal activity is afoot. These stops are often called "Terry Stops" because they were legalized in a landmark Supreme Court case called Terry v. Ohio.
In that case, the Supreme Court held that "an officer may, within the parameters of the fourth amendment, conduct a brief, investigatory stop of a citizen when the officer has a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity, and such suspicion amounts to more than a mere 'hunch.' "
The legality of a Terry stop depends on the totality of the circumstances. Courts look at many factors in determining whether an officer had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Rupert Murdoch reaches divorce settlement
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch recently reached a divorce deal with his wife Wendi Deng Murdoch.
The Associated Press reports that the couple shook hands and hugged outside of the courthouse.
"We are pleased to announce that we have reached an amicable settlement of all matters relating to our divorce," the couple said in a prepared statement. "We move forward with mutual respect and a shared interest in the health and happiness of our two daughters."
Rupert Murdoch is an 82-year-old business tycoon who is originally from Australia. He's currently the CEO of News Corp and 21st Century Fox. His net worth is around 13 billion dollars.
Chinese-born Wendi Deng is Rupert Murdoch's third wife. She married Murdoch in 1999, about three weeks after he divorced his second wife. The couple has two children together.
The split will not likely have a large impact on Murdoch's business dealings. The Associated Press reports that Rupert Murdoch controls his companies through a family trust that benefits his children from his previous marriages.
Illinois Court Rejects Lake County Mother's Child Support Garnishment Case
The Supreme Court of Illinois recently rejected a Lake County mother's attempts at garnishing her ex-husband's paycheck for child support.
The case involves a woman named Jennifer Schultz. She filed a complaint in Lake County circuit court against Performance Lighting, Inc., her husband's employer. The woman wanted to recover the $100 statutory penalty from the company for failing to withhold child support from her ex-husband's paychecks.
Child support wage garnishment is a process that demands strict adherence to statutory requirements. One of the requirements under Illinois's Income Withholding for Support Act is that a child support order needs to contain the name and social security number of the person whose wages are to be garnished.
In this case, the employer ignored the mother's request for wage garnishments because she failed to include her ex-husband's social security number in her notice of withholding. Moreover a "Uniform Order for Support" issued by a district court also did not include the social security number or name of the husband.
Far South Side Crash Results in DUI Charges for Chicago Man
A Chicago man has been charged after allegedly causing a crash that injured nine individuals, including four police officers.
Authorities say that the crash happened on the Far South Side last week when the man was traveling in a Nissan Altima on the 10200 block of South Indianpolis Avenue. CBS Chicago reports that the man hit an unmarked police car conducting a traffic cop shortly after midnight on Monday and caused a chain reaction.
Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada says that the 69-year-old man's car rear-ended the squad car. The police car was pushed into a Chevy Tahoe and another cop car assisting with the stop was also hit.
The driver faces a host of charges including felony aggravated DUI causing an accident involving bodily harm. The man was also charged with two misdemeanor DUI counts, and negligent driving.
Drunk driving charges can be fought in several ways including demonstrating that a blood-alcohol test was conducted using faulty test equipment or that the person conducting the test was not qualified.
Authorities Charge Joseph Mollica with accepting bribes
Federal authorities recently charged a former Cook County Forest Reserve District engineer with accepting "kickbacks" in the course of two district contracts.
Networking is an important part of many major business deals. Often individuals who are responsible for making a business deal or contract happen receive incentives from a grateful contractor or business partner.
While these incentives are common and accepted in the private sector, these types of arrangements can result in serious charges against public employees.
Federal authorities charged Joseph Mollica, a former engineer for the Cook County Forest Preserve, with federal bribery. Authorities say that Mollica had the ability to influence and award contracts for public work done under $25,000 and use this power to accept cash payments from contractors.
"Together, the indictment and complaint allege that on Oct. 14, 2011, Mollica accepted a $6,000 kickback from a $24,900 contract to refinish and refurbish the Forest Preserve District's headquarters building, where he worked, located at 536 N. Harlem Ave., in River Forest," Federal authorities said in a press release. "On Dec. 16, 2011, he allegedly accepted a $4,000 kickback from a $16,500 contract to power wash and stain the building and boardwalk and do caulking at the Sand Ridge Nature Center in Calumet City."
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