Author: matthaiduk

Matt Haiduk is a criminal defense lawyer in Illinois. He loves his dog. And pizza.

The $28 Question: What is wrong with the system?

It’s to compensate them for the burden of having to also take your $100. Guilty… Innocent… Not guilty by reason of insanity… whatever. Kiss that money goodbye.

Money.
What is this? The almighty dollar.

I love a weird theory.  This is America, after all.  Think what you want… that is your right.  You think that life demands us to hop on the spaceship following Comet Hale-Bopp?  Have a good flight.  Maybe you’re right and I’m wrong.  What do I know about spaceships and comets?  Nothing, really.

I have my own weird theories.  One of them is that the criminal justice system shouldn’t be looked as a “revenue generating”  source.  I get really nervous when I hear about the government siphoning money off of the accused.  My thought is that “raising revenue” and “truth” don’t always work well together.  If the system is focused on making money, guilt/innocence become less important and we are a lot more willing to jail innocent people.  The thought of innocent people caged up like animals at the zoo keeps me awake at night.

If the first part of my weird theory is that the criminal justice system shouldn’t be all about money, the second part of my theory is that the criminal justice system is all about money- to the government. Before you get to telling me that the second part of my theory isn’t weird, you’re wrong.  Maybe not “weird” in the same sense that people thought Michael and Latoya Jackson were the same people.  My theory is certainly weird in the sense that it’s not the prevailing thought.  Don’t think it’s all about money?  Everything is all about money.  Ask the philosophers of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Cash rules everything around me, right?  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking that the Wu-Tang Clan doesn’t represent the thinking of the majority of the people.  No?  I believe that the “proof is in the pudding.”  Want proof?  Take a closer look at the way the bond system works.

Let’s assume you get arrested on a low-grade misdemeanor.  You’ve got to post $100 to bond out.  Because you’ve either been arrested by the Sheriff’s Department, or couldn’t raise the money quick enough for your local department, you’ve got to post it at the County Jail.  You give them the $100 and get freed on bond, right? Wrong.  If you’re in McHenry County, you give them $128.  That’s $100 in bond and a $28 sheriff’s fee.  The $100 bond is held by the clerk. Its purpose is to ensure you show up on your court dates.  In theory you get it back when the case is over.

That $28, though?  What is with that?

That’s the Sheriff department’s cut.  It’s to compensate them for the burden of having to also take your $100.  Guilty… Innocent… Not guilty by reason of insanity… whatever.  Kiss that money goodbye.

$28 not a big deal?    That’s $28 for each of the thousands of people posting bond at the jail (not convicted or found guilty) of everything from driving without a valid license to Murder.  You can even be forced to post bond on a seat belt ticket.  And, $28 is on the low side.  In Kane County, that fee is $46!  That’s $46 you pay for the privilege of letting them take your other money!  Why? I don’t know.

I’m thinking that fee is a decent part of the over $2,000,000 in revenue the McHenry County Sheriff brings in through “fees and services.”  Granted, a lot of that is “service of process” and other things.  Still, $28 for each person posting bond at the jail (guilty or not) is nothing to sneeze at.  And the issue isn’t really how much money the Sheriff brings in on the fees, it’s why should the government make any money on somebody who may not be guilty?

In my world, if you’re arrested by the police, forced to pay the $28 sheriff’s fee and are not convicted, that $28 should be sent right back to you in the same envelope with a letter of apology from the people who arrested you.  Of course, that’s just my world… and my weird theory.  Take it for what it is, but at least I’m not trying to catch a ride on a UFO.

That’s also just the tip of the iceberg.  The bond money you posted comes back when you’re found not guilty, right?  Well, yes. And, no.  You get your money back minus “the vig.”   Why does the clerk keep a cut?  Because they had to hold your money, of course.  They’re just like a bank except they don’t pay you interest- instead they keep the interest that was accrued during your case and also keep their vig.  Maybe more like a loan shark, then.

The vig, by the way, is 10% of whatever you’ve posted for bond.  Posted $100 (plus the sheriff’s fee) on that misdemeanor?  Best case is that you’ll get $90 back.  Posted $500,000 on that murder you didn’t do?  Well, you just lost $50k, and the government doesn’t care that you didn’t do it.  While you’re out $50k plus the cost of an awesome lawyer, the government just made $50k, plus the sheriff’s fee, plus any interest accrued on $500,000 and you weren’t even guilty.

How is that fair? It’s not… in my weird world, anyway.

 

Can it get any easier?

People want to know what to do when the police are trying to “talk” to them.  I’ve used this persistent question as inspiration for clothing.  Available soon, the Matthew J. Haiduk, Attorney at Law t-shirt.  Details to follow.

 

5th Amendment
5th Amendment. No Lawyer? No talk.

Are the Police better than regular people?

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.

So, while I love to see people exercise their rights upon arrest, I don’t get excited when anybody gets arrested.  It’s not in my nature.  George Zimmerman, the police, my neighbor, that annoying lady down the street, some random person… I don’t care.  I don’t see an arrest as a cause to celebrate.

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?

Seems only fair to me.

Why George Zimmerman won’t just plead guilty and save us all some money.

What plea to enter and at what time you enter it can have as much of an effect on the outcome of the case as the underlying “truth” of your innocence/guilt.

I’m not ever really up-to-date on current affairs. I know you know this.  Usually I have to google “Nancy Grace” to find out what the masses deem important legal topics.  I have been keeping my eye on the Treyvon Martin thing, though.

Oddly enough it’s not a huge topic among the local criminal defense bar.  Probably because it’s not much of a surprise.  We see this stuff all the time, even if Al Sharpton doesn’t get involved.

Anyhow, “big” cases always draw a lot of attention to one of my favorite things in criminal law: the plea of not guilty.  Why do I love it so much?  For a few reasons.  First, a plea of not guilty in a “big” case really seems to upset the masses.  I love upsetting the masses.  Especially when it causes people to take a closer look at the criminal justice system.  Second, it’s fun to say.  Try dropping it into non-legal conversation any time somebody asks you if you did something and you’ll see what I mean.  “Hey, did you remember to take the garbage out?” “Not guilty.”

I find it amusing that people go nuts when somebody pleads not guilty at an arraignment in a big criminal case.  The media loves to use that in headlines.  Don’t believe me?  Watch what happens if George Zimmerman gets charged with killing Treyvon Martin.  He’ll enter an initial plea of not guilty and people will go nuts.  “How can he say he’s innocent!”  Or, “Why won’t he just plead guilty and stop wasting tax money.”

How could he say he’s not guilty?  I’ll tell you how. Because he can, that’s how.

He’s got a constitutional presumption that he is, in fact, not guilty.  Everybody charged with a crime does.  Don’t like that? Ok. Change the Constitution.  Until you’re willing to do that, things will keep moving along like they have since we booted the Brits out of the colonies and started governing ourselves.  That pesky Bill of Rights is always messing up our lives, isn’t it?

Forget how he can do that, why would he plead not guilty?  Everybody (including himself, of course) know’s he guilty, right?  Let’s pretend that’s true, for a minute.  If he’s my client, he’s still entering a plea of not guilty.

Why?  Because even when you want to enter a guilty plea, there is a time and a place for everything.  What plea to enter and at what time you enter it can have as much of an effect on the outcome of the case as the underlying “truth” of your innocence/guilt.

In my fictional situation, Zimmerman would be asked to enter a “formal” plea at one of the initial court dates.  Unless Florida works in a manner completely different than Illinois (which, I hope, it does), the Prosecutors will walk into that arraignment knowing all the details of the police investigation, having been informed of what all the witnesses (including Zimmerman) had to say, knowing what testimony and evidence the grand jury witnesses revealed, and knowing the details of their case from front-to-back.  On the other hand, Zimmerman’s lawyer will know what his client told him.  At that point in the case it’s like the two sides are playing poker, with the prosecutor having seen everybody’s cards and the defense knowing only half of his own cards.

In this business, information is everything. “Facts” are the cards.  Want to see a nervous lawyer?  Watch a one having to defend a trial in a case where there is no requirement that the lawyers exchange information beforehand.  In this game, as in life, knowledge is everything.  Just ask G.I. Joe and Kool Moe Dee .

What’s that got to do with George Zimmerman, Treyvon Martin and every person involved in any criminal case that ever got Nancy Grace’s guts in an uproar?  No attorney in their right mind is ever going to enter a plea of guilty until all of the information has been exchanged and “we” know what “they” know… because they might just be wrong about something.  It’s happened in the past.

It’s got nothing to do with guilt.

It’s got nothing to do with tax money.

It’s got everything to do with the Bill of Rights and knowledge of the case.

I don’t know if Zimmerman is going to get arrested and charged.  With every passing day it does look less likely.  I do know, though, that if he’s charged he’s going to enter an initial plea of not guilty.  I’d expect nothing less.

2 things to do when you’ve been arrested!

Sammy, get well soon.

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).

2. Smile.