The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Supreme Court Limits Warrantless Entry of Home in Hot Pursuit of Misdemeanor Suspect

June 28, 2021

On June 23, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court in Lange v. California, held that the pursuit of a misdemeanor suspect does not always justify entering his home without a warrant. This case arose when a police officer tried curbing a vehicle for a traffic offense. Instead of stopping, the suspect drove to his house and…

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Appellate Court holds that Defendant Had a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in her Office

June 8, 2021

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the jury convictions of Ethel Shelton, the administrative assistant to former Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin, in a high-profile political corruption case, United States v. Shelton. This case involved the FBI’s use of an informant to obtain documents used against the defendant and propriety of how the…

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Illinois Appellate Court Narrows Definition of “In Custody” in Police Pursuit Cases

April 28, 2021

On April 9, 2021, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District decided Robinson v. Village of Sauk Village, et al. 2021 IL App (1st) 200223. In Robinson, a pedestrian who was struck and injured by a fleeing lawbreaker sued Sauk Village, the Village of Crete, and several of their police officers for willful and wanton conduct…

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Court Grants Summary Judgment to Officer Who Tackled Domestic Violence Offender

April 13, 2021

A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois recently granted summary judgment in favor of three City of Morris police officers. The incident giving rise to the suit began when a woman reported to the Morris police department that her boyfriend had struck her in the face. Later that evening, officers went to his…

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Seventh Circuit Reverses $44 Million Verdict Against City of Chicago

April 13, 2021

The Seventh Circuit no doubt raised some eyebrows last month when it reversed a $44.7 million jury verdict in First Midwest Bank v. City of Chicago. But despite the high verdict and tragic facts, the decision simply applied longstanding Supreme Court precedent on the distinction between government wrongs, which certainly do violate the federal constitution,…

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