Robert J. Callahan & Associates Criminal Defense Law Firm

Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyer

Robert J. Callahan Attorney at Law

Criminal Defense for All People

Robert Callahan has defended people of all races, sexes, nationalities and economic classes and will use extensive resources, professional relationships and superior legal knowledge to protect your constitutional rights. Click here to see videos detailing our areas of expertise.

Specialties of Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Callahan:

• Murder
• Drug Offenses (Possession, Trafficking, and possession with intent to distribute)
• Federal and Felony Charges
• Illinois DUI Attorney and Chicago DUI Lawyer
• Weapons
• Sex Charges
• Embezzlement and Fraud
• Assault and Battery
• Juvenile Crime
• Violent Crimes
• Theft and Burglary
• Domestic Violence
• Probation Violations
• Hit and Run
• Traffic and Felony Traffic Offenses

The following case summaries listed below are more detailed accounts of the "recent victories" listed in the right hand column:

April 2012 - MOTION TO SUPPRESS GRANTED   UNLAWFUL USE OF WEAPONS BY FELON (Evidence suppressed due to Warrantless Entry of Residence)

Rafael C. was in his house on Christmas Eve 2011 when Chicago Police Officers made forcible entry into the back door of his apartment. Officers claimed that they responding to complaints of a "loud party". As the officers approached the rear of the residence, they came upon a "known juvenile". The juvenile was on the back porch of the residence, and suspected of a Curfew Violation.  When the officers approached the young man for a field interview, he fled into Rafael's apartment.  The officers, believing they had a right to follow the suspect, kicked in the back door and made entry.  They claimed that when they got in, Rafael was observed with a 9 mm. handgun in his waistband. We filed a MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE and began our investigation. We took photographs of the kicked in door and interviewed all the attendees of the party. The State's Attorney's argued that the Police Officers had a right to enter the apartment without a warrant due to the "hot pursuit" of the juvenile.  They also argued that the "exigent circumstances" gave them  probable cause to enter.  We presented several Appellate Court Decisions to the Court along with Memorandum of Law outlining our position.  The Judge ruled that the police had no right to enter for such a trivial reason.  The Police should have tried to obtain a Search Warrant prior to entering.  For the above stated reasons the Motion was granted.

December 2011 - MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE GRANTED - Class 1 Felony Cannabis (Case Dismissed Due to Improper Traffic Stop)

Shannon A. was arrested by members of the Cook County Sheriff's Police Narcotics Interdiction Team last July.  He was stopped by the officers after picking up a package from a FedEx store.  The officers retrieved the package from his vehicle, opened it, and found it to contain several pounds of Cannabis. We filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence based on the illegality of the traffic stop.  We argued that the Cook County Officers did not have Probable Cause to stop Shannon's car. The Judge agreed with our argument, and after a Hearing determined that the Police had no right to stop him. Due to the fact that the stop was illegal, the evidence (Cannabis) was Suppressed and the case was Dismissed.

September 2011 - CLASS 2 FELONY - UNLAWFUL USE IF WEAPONS BY FELON - NOT GUILTY

Walter W. was arrested in his own home in February of this year.  Chicago Police, responding to a Domestic Battery call, arrived at his house at approximately 1 a.m. The officers arrested Walter immediately.  These same officers proceeded to search the entire residence in search of contraband.  They did not have a Search Warrant permitting such a search. In one of the bedrooms, a loaded 9 millimeter revolver was found concealed inside a diaper box.  Walters wife told the police officers that it was his gun.  During cross-examination the officers admitted that they never saw Walter handle the gun, and that no proof of residency was recovered. The Judge found that the State's Attorney had not met their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. NOT GUILTY on all counts.

January 2011 - Super Class X Felony - Eight Kilos of Cocaine, One Kilo of Heroin - NOT GUILTY

In July of 2010, Moises T. was charged with Possession with Intent to Deliver more than 19 pounds of heroin and cocaine.  Possession of that amount of cocaine is a non-probationable Super Class X felony and carries a Mandatory Minimum penitentiary sentence of 15 years. His family hired our office immediately, and we went to work.  Moises was driving a semi-truck at the time of his arrest.  After searching inside the trailer portion of the vehicle, the Illinois State Police found the above-mentioned large quantity of narcotics.  We subpoenaed every single police report. We requested and received the video tape recordings from inside the troopers car.  The trooper who arrested Moises indicated that Moises had been acting very suspiciously during his traffic stop.  The officer testified that while being questioned Moises became extremely nervous, and that his breathing became "labored and heavy".  After we received the in-car video, we quickly realized that the officer was either outright lying or seriously delusional.  We vigorously cross-examined the trooper.  We showed the video recording to the Jury. We demonstrated the State could not prove Moises' knowledge of the narcotics in the trailer.  After a 5 day jury trial we prevailed.  NOT GUILTY on all 6 counts!

October 2010 - Motion to Suppress Evidence Granted - Class X Case Dismissed

A Motion to Suppress Evidence is a "tool" criminal defense lawyers frequently use when our clients have been Unconstitutionally arrested, detained or searched.  The Constitution requires that the police have "Probable Cause" to detain or search a criminal suspect.  If a Judge finds that the police did not have "Probable Cause" to arrest someone, any evidence obtained as a result of that unlawful arrest must be suppressed. We file a "Motion to Suppress" if we feel that an arrest was improper or illegal. If that Motion is granted, the State's Attorney can no longer use that evidence and we win the case. That's exactly what happened here.  Being retained from day one made a huge difference. The case was won because we were able to obtain evidence which could have been legally destroyed by the police.  What is that evidence you ask? It's 911 call and dispatch recordings.  Most people don't know that these recordings are routinely destroyed after 30 days.  The official Police Department rationale is that there isn't enough space to keep all the recordings. If we are hired in time, we file a Motion to Preserve them. We also subpoena them in every case. (Many criminal attorneys including Public Defenders do not do this). Greg G. was pulled over by the Oak Park Police Department in July.  The police claimed that he was stopped because he matched a description given by a 911 caller.  That caller had claimed to be observing a narcotics transaction in progress, and that the seller of the narcotics was carrying a "Beretta 9 millimeter" handgun. We were retained by Greg the day after he was arrested.  Our usual 911 dispatch subpoena was complied with in August.  After listening to the tape, it was obvious that there was something wrong with the arrest. Although the 911 caller claimed to observe the narcotics transaction on East Blvd. and Madison Street, Greg G. was pulled over on Austin Avenue and Madison. That's Eight Blocks away from the purported "scene of the crime"! We played the recordings for the Judge, and questioned the arresting officer about the arrest.  After listening to the testimony, the Judge found that the police did not have Probable Cause to stop Greg's car. The handgun and felony weight marijuana was suppressed.  The Mandatory Minimum jail sentence for the offense in this case was 6 years. Due to the fact that our Motion to Suppress was granted the case was Dismissed.

September 2010 - Aggravated Assault - Not Guilty

In June of this year, Tom H. was charged with the offense of Aggravated Assault.  His fellow employee had accused him of using a forklift to "place her in a reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery" Tom and the Complaining Witness worked together in a government run mail warehouse. The Complainant alleged that she had a verbal altercation with Tom while they were working together.  She further alleged that he "cornered her with a forklift" and forced her to step onto the forks of the forklift.  She claimed that as a result she injured her arm and was psychologically traumatized.  During her testimony at trial she testified that while on the forklift, Tom had driven in excess of 25 miles per hour and yelled "I'm going to throw your a**". During the course of investigation we requested and obtained every relevant report.  As always, we subpoenaed the 911, dispatch, and supplemental case reports.  It turned out that the Complainant had given 2 different dates that the alleged offense had occurred. Most importantly, our investigation uncovered a letter from their employer which stated that as a result of her behavior, the Complainant was being placed on "off duty status, without pay".  The complainant tried to deny this at trial, and was confronted with the letter.  She became visibly nervous and tried to imply that the letter was a fabrication.  We had subpoenaed the author of the letter however, and had him ready to testify.  He testified that he had sent her the letter and that she had been placed on off duty status as a result of her conduct.  As icing on the cake, we were able to present evidence that the forklift in question has a "governor" on the engine that makes its maximum possible speed 5 miles per hour!  Finding of Not Guilty

August 2010 - Domestic Battery - Not Guilty

Jorge R. was arrested and charged with the offense of Domestic battery in January earlier this year.  His girlfriend at the time made statements to the Chicago Police that he had "backhanded me in the shoulder" and "punched me in the face"  Jorge strenuously denied ever having harmed her in any way.  He claimed that she had falsified the charges against him because the relationship was ending. We started out by subpoenaing all the relevant CPD police reports, dispatch recordings, and 911 tapes.  Our investigation disclosed that the Complaining Witness had not called the police until some 8 hours after she alleged she was struck by Jorge.  At trial, during an intense cross-examination by Robert Callahan, she testified that Jorge had "backhanded her in the face".  This was completely different from what she had told the police.  We had the relevant reports at hand, and were able to impeach her (show she was lying) by indicating the difference to the Judge. It was apparent to nearly everyone in the courtroom that she was a complete liar.  You can't always say that "justice prevailed" in the types of cases we win, but in this one, IT IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Also, our thanks to Associate Gabrielle Sansonetti for her assistance in case prep and during the cross-examination of the complaining witness.  Finding of Not Guilty

March 2010 - Unlawful Use of Weapons by a Felon/Possession of Heroin - Probation (8 prior Felony Convictions)

Ryan B. was arrested and charged by the Chicago Police with Unlawful Use of Weapons by a Felon and Possession of Heroin. At the time of his arrest Ryan had 8 prior Felony Convictions. Our investigation of the case disclosed that the stop and search of Ryan's vehicle was illegal.  We filed a Motion to Suppress evidence supported by the recent change in Constitutional Search and Seizure Law.  In the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Arizona v. Gant, the law was changed with regard to the the permissibility of the scope of a lawful search incident to arrest.  During the Hearing on the Motion to Suppress Evidence, we were able to bring out facts and evidence favorable to the defense.  After the Motion, we began to explore the possibility of a favorable plea negotiation. After a strenuous, difficult, and prolonged negotiation with the Assistant State's Attorneys assigned to the case we were able to have a conference with the Judge pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 402.  The result of the Conference was that Ryan received a sentence of 2 years TASC PROBATION!