A few months back I was annoyed that people were jumping on Sandusky’s lawyer for decisions he’d made. Don’t get me wrong, Sandusky’s interview creeped me out just as much as it did you. Sometimes your only chance is to take a chance, though. Sometimes a lawyer is forced to put on a case he can’t win… we call those cases “suicide missions.” Every defendant has a right to a trial, and that is something he/she gets to decide- nobody else.
Trial has begun. Soon enough we’ll actually know if Sandusky’s seriously hurt himself by talking to the media. I’m doubting he did.
It’s been awhile since I scampered off the radar. Too long, actually. I’m planning to fix that at about 7:00 tonight. Unfortunately, it won’t all be fun. With an appeal deadline fast approaching and the potential of two felony trials in the next 6 weeks, I’m taking a couple boxes full of work to the peace and tranquility of the woods. I get some of my best work done there.
I can see the moon rise over the lake from the desk I'll be working at. Photo by Matt Haiduk.
In the meantime, both phone coverage and email will be sporadic. If you’re looking a new client looking for a felony attorney in Kane County, a DUI lawyer in Mchenry County or anything in-between, I apologize for the inconvenience. Feel free to try, but don’t get offended if you don’t hear from me until the other side of the weekend. If it’s a “true” emergency (ie. you are at the police station, or the cops are knocking on your door), I’ll do everything I can to get back to you quickly. If you need to know when your next court date is, your quickest bet is to look that up on the clerk’s web page.
So, you got arrested. You posted bond. And, now you’re out of jail, sitting in my office on the verge of tears. You’ve got all kinds of things running through your head. Maybe you’re second-guessing the decision to go drinking last night. Maybe you’re wondering what you should have told the police when they claim they’ve had complaints of weird odors from your crawlspace, and they want to take a look. Maybe you’re wishing you hadn’t wrapped your head in duct tape and robbed that liquor store.
Whatever your chosen mischief may or may not have been (you might be not-guilty, after all), you’re focused on what you did and what you could have done. Everybody is. Everybody always wants to change the past.
Newsflash: You can’t change the past. You want to change some things you told the police in your written statement? I’m all for it. Just go ahead and send your “new” statement to the police. Can’t wait to see how that affects their decision to charge you. It won’t, of course.
A wise man, perhaps Michael J. Fox, once said that you can change the future. I’m not really sure that makes sense, though. If the future hasn’t happened, how can you change it? What I think he meant is that you can affect the direction of the future.
Want to change the direction of your legal future? Being out on bond is a great opportunity to make yourself a lot more sympathetic to the prosecutors. Ever think about spending your weekends reading books to blind kids? What judge wants to lock up the blind-kid librarian? “Judge Matt” wouldn’t feel so great about that.
For some reason, however, it’s not as easy as I’d think. Some people heed that advice, and things go smoothly. Others, though… well, let’s just say some people don’t care. Or, at least pretend they don’t. On that note, if you’re sitting in my office wondering if it’s too late to “take back” the consent to search that lead to the police finding that kilo of cocaine inside your wallet, consider the simple tips that too many people ignore while out on bond:
1. Don’t get arrested again while out on bond. Just don’t do it. Really bad idea. So bad, in fact, that the lawmakers have decided to extra-punish you when this happens. Where, normally, multiple prison sentences are served “concurrently” (at the same time), sentences for offenses commit while you’re on bond must run “consecutive” (one after the other).
Remember when you went to the movies to see Teen Wolf Too and decided it would be funny to record 30 seconds of it on your iPhone? Well, that could earn you 1-3 years in the Big House when you’re found guilty of Criminal Use of a Motion Picture Exhibition Facility. Remember when you were out on bond for that and you spit on the guy who was saying bad things about your mom? Spitting can normally only be a misdemeanor. Unfortunately for you, though, you’d flipped up the hood on your new, puffy, North Face coat. Because you did, Illinois law makes that misdemeanor into a felony.
Now, you’ve got the double-whammy. Because you picked up a new arrest the judge is a lot more inclined to hammer you on the first… as well as the second. Plus, because the second came while you were on bond, any prison sentences will be forced to run consecutive. 30 seconds of iPhone movie making and spitting on some guy who might have deserved it may now earn you 6 years behind bars. Lessons learned? First, don’t pick up a second case while you’re out on the first. Second, you’d be better off wearing a Members Only jacket than a puffy North Face Coat. Members Only jackets don’t have hoods.
2. Kill your Facebook. Seriously. Why? Because you put all sorts of stuff on there. In fact, you put everything about your life on Facebook. Your 32,444 “friends” know when you’re eating, where you’re at, and what your last meal was. They also know that you were arrested last week. And that you’re sorry “but” you’re only sorry that that guy made you slash his tires and fill his Oldsmobuick with pudding. He did deserve it after all, right? You told us so on Facebook (<– “like” me if you like me).
If your 32,444 “friends” know it, do you know who else does? The police. Prosecutors, too. Believe it or not, people who want to put you in jail have Facebook. What’s that, you say? You keep your updates private? Good thinking! Although, I’m pretty sure 32,441 of your “friends” are squealers. They will be plenty happy to tell the police what you’re putting on Facebook if the police ask politely. Think about it. You confessed your crimes on Facebook, but you expect them to be quiet?Assume that anything you put on Facebook (or your friends say on Facebook) is going to get back to the people who want to throw the book at you.
3. Start using a calendar. And, an alarm clock. So, you’ve been charged with the Class A misdemeanor of Theft of Library Materials for not returning that copy of “Dianetics” and those two volumes of Encyclopedia Brittanica you checked out in 1998? Sure, you know it was just a misunderstanding, but your prosecutor wishes “library crimes” were punishable by death. You post your bond, get yourself a lawyer and start gathering evidence to present in your defense.
You wake up on a random Friday at your customary 11:42 a.m. and something just doesn’t seem right. Maybe you had an appointment with your lawyer that day and you can’t remember when? You call your lawyer- no quick answer, he’s in court. In the afternoon he calls back.
Lawyer: Hey, where were you?
You: What do you mean? I was calling to talk about my case.
Lawyer: I was hoping to talk to you about it, too. Today. After court. Why weren’t you there?
You: Umm… I thought court was next week?
Lawyer: When next week?
You: Umm… I’m not really sure about that, either.
Lawyer: Ok, well the judge issued a warrant for your arrest.
You: Can we tell him I overslept? I sorta did.
Lawyer: We can tell him whatever you’d like. Although, we should probably tell him something we didn’t use the last four times you did this.
The reality is that I can usually avoid a warrant if a client who normally shows up mysteriously doesn’t show up once. Maybe twice. Much beyond that, though and things get dicey. The judge will issue a warrant, and if it happens too many times, the bond amount on the new warrant will be so high that there’s no way you’ll post.
So what? I’ll tell you what: People in jail get worse deals than people out on bond. Why? Because they want to get out. Right now. Under any circumstances. If I get bad offer on a guy who is out, that client is usually ok with going through a few more court dates to let me work a little voodoo. Somebody already in jail, though? They don’t want to wait in jail one more second. “I’ve got to do 1,000 hours of community service by next week, pay $46,993,345 in fines and have an electronic brain monitor implanted, but I get out of here today? Where do I sign the paperwork?”
Prosecutors know that people in jail will take just about any offer. So, they don’t make their best offers. Jails are full of people who overslept their court times or showed up on the wrong day. Do yourself a favor and start using a calendar… and not the calendar on Facebook.
There you go. Three simple tips, for free. Don’t get arrested again, stop blabbing on Facebook, and use a calendar. Make that four tips, actually… don’t duct tape your head and rob a liquor store, either. Things really didn’t end well for that guy.
I always wondered what the “WWJD” on those bumper stickers stood for. I guess now I know that it stands for “What Would Jones Do.”
When I woke up this morning and checked the news I was not surprised to see that a former Narcotics cop had been arrested. Cops are, after all, regular people. Regular people can get arrested.
According to the news it looks like they have accused him of skimming some of the seized cash- although that didn’t surprise me either. Dale Hojnacki is the guy’s name. I wouldn’t say I know Hojnacki, although I have dealt with him on the witness stand at least 3-4 times in the past few years. I don’t really know him at all on a personal level, so I can’t say I was either surprised (or expected) to find out he is the accused.
What did surprise me, though, was the comment by his chief. Among Chief Jones’ comments were that “…I will not tolerate any act that makes him no better than the criminals we arrest on a daily basis.” Whoa.
I don’t like that.
Apparently the good Chief has never arrested an innocent man. Ever. And, according to the Chief, one bad decision or horrible lapse in judgement makes any arrested person “not better” than the police. Even before they’re convicted. I always wondered what the “WWJD” on those bumper stickers stood for. I guess it stands for “What Would Jones Do.” Now I have the moral standard-setter I have spent my life looking for. He is better, after all, than the people he arrests every day.
Newsflash: The people he arrests every day are the people I deal with every day. Most of them are regular, normal people. Most of them will never get arrested again. Most of them will get through their issues without any lasting effects. Most of the people arrested every day are actually arrested on traffic charges. You know what they say about driving without a seat belt? It’s a gateway crime. First you drive without a seat belt, next you’re dressing like “Pogo the Clown” and burying bodies in the crawlspace. We can’t have that.
Aside from Jones’ comments, I was asked a little bit ago what I thought about this whole Hojnacki arrest. It seems that people assume that, since the police and guys like me can often have contentious relationships, I’d be excited at the news. I’m not. I’ve represented police officers before. Despite what the good Chief thinks, they’re regular people, too.
Cops have the same rights as everybody else, and I have no problems helping protect them. If Hojnacki walked into my office tomorrow, I’d help him without reservation. Even if I have strong opinions about they way police are generally trained, I don’t “hate” them. There is no doubt that I’m disgusted by what I have seen out of a few of them (and there certainly are a few that shouldn’t be carrying guns on the streets). I am, however, here to help people (even cops) with their problems. And, that’s what I do.
The fact is that I feel bad for the whole situation. The life Hojnacki knew is over- whether or not he’s guilty. If he stole money or didn’t steal money, that’s sad. The intensity of a criminal arrest for a cop is off-the-meter when compared to a non-cop. It’s possible to be empathetic without condoning what somebody has done or is accused of doing. It seems they don’t teach that in Police Chief school.
I get that Chief Jones has a serious potential P.R. nightmare on his hand. I also get that he’s a trained cop- not media relations guy. I don’t get his comments about being “better” than anybody, though. If I can be rational enough to make individual judgment calls on the individual police I deal with, shouldn’t he do the same when it comes to the accused?
I know you come here for my hard-hitting, behind the scenes insight into the criminal justice system. You like the fact that I say things other people won’t. You want to know how to avoid getting arrested, and I give you the blueprint. You want to know what happens if the police do pull you over, and I break it down. I’ve babbled on enough about what to do when the police pull you over, and even if they’re talking to you in an “investigation” room. Today we move on to the next step: after they’ve arrested you.
Like most people who choose to help the accused, I’m a guy who likes a plan. I think it’s fair to say that nearly all of us who do this have thought about what we’d do if we were ever arrested. I’m not necessarily talking about things like who to call for bond money- although I’ve definitely got a mental short list for that. I’m talking about small, amusing things. Like, I once saw somebody sign a bond slip with “Dear Sammy, Get well soon.” I had no idea what that meant, until I realized it was a quote from the movie stripes:
00:16:29 All right, now if you’ll just give Uncle Sam your autograph here.
00:16:34 “Sammy, get well soon.”
That was, clearly, something pre-planned. Had nothing to do with the case, or the law. Funny beyond belief, though.
Not enough people get arrested with a plan. Nowhere is this more obvious than looking through booking photos. I appreciate that your booking photo will be taken on the worst day of your life, when you are at your most humanly low. You might be drunk. Maybe you were even roughed up a little.
Ever notice how a lot of people seem to look guilty in their mug shots? That picture could end up in the police report, the newspaper, or even on Google Plus. For the love of the 5th Amendment and all things great, pull yourself together and make it a glamour shot. Think that’s a bad idea? Which one of these two is charged with really nasty felonies?
The answer, of course, is both of them. If one had to go to prison, and the other could get probation, which one would get locked up? As a criminal defense attorney I hate the fact that snap judgments are made based on appearances, but I would absolutely use that to my advantage. As can you.
I’m serious about this. Know what the lady above is charged with? Armed Robbery, Burglary, and Kidnapping. Kidnapping! Does she look like a kidnapper to you?
With that, I offer the following two tips for your post-arrest processing:
1. Take a comb if you are able (some people know the police are out to find them, as I suspect the woman above did).
