Chicago Criminal Defense: Weapons

The case of the police party crashers

On Christmas Eve 2011, Chicago Police claimed they were responding to complaints of a “loud party” at an apartment building. As they approached residence, they came upon a “known juvenile.”The juvenile was on the back porch of the residence, and officers suspected he was violating curfew. When they approached the young man for an interview, he fled into the nearest apartment, home to Rafael C.The officers, believing they had a right to follow the juvenile, kicked in Rafael’s back door and went inside. They claimed they saw Rafael with a handgun tucked in his waistband.

Robert J. Callahan & Associates filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence and began our investigation. We took photographs of the rear door and interviewed all the people who had been at the party.

The State’s Attorney’s argued that the police officers had a right to enter the apartment without a warrant because they were in “hot pursuit” of the juvenile. They also argued that “exigent circumstances” gave the police probable cause to enter. We presented our evidence, along with several Appellate Court Decisions to the Court along with Memorandum of Law outlining our position.

RESULT: The Judge ruled that the police had no right to enter Rafael’s apartment. The officers, he ruled, should have tried to obtain a search warrant first. The motion was granted.