MOTION TO SUPPRESS GRANTED...UNLAWFUL USE OF WEAPONS BY FELON (Evidence suppressed due to Warrant-less 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.
