Drug Charges in Kane County – Charges Dismissed

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charges dismissed in Kane County after Motion to Suppress Search of gun safe inside the client’s residence granted.

People v. A.B. – Kane County criminal defense lawyer, James Dimeas, represented a client charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia in Kane County. James Dimeas’s client had been involved in a Domestic Violence incident with his wife at home. The next morning, the client’s wife went to the Kane County Circuit Court and obtained an Emergency Order of Protection against the client. The Emergency Order of Protection required that the client not be allowed to be in the residence and to have no contact with his wife.

That afternoon, two local police officers arrived at the client’s residence with the Emergency Order of Protection. When they encountered the client, they informed him that his wife had obtained an Emergency Order of Protection and that he was required to leave the residence immediately. The police officers allowed the client to gather some of his clothes and personal belongings and told him they had to escort him from the residence. Before leaving the home, one of the police officers asked the client if he had any firearms in the home. The client informed the officer that he had a valid FOID card that he had several firearms locked in a gun safe in the basement of the house. The officer called his supervisor who instructed him to seize the firearms, inventory them, and take them to the police station. When the police officer informed the client of what he was going to do, the client objected, but was told by the police officer that he had no choice in the matter. In response, the client gave the police officers the key to the gun safe and took them to the basement to where the gun safe was located.

When the officers opened the gun safe they noticed several guns inside the gun safe. They started removing the guns from the safe and placed them in a box to take back to the police station. As the officers were removing the guns from the safe, they smelled the scent of burnt cannabis coming from inside the safe. They found a bag at the bottom of the safe and when they looked inside of the bag they found a pipe that is used to smoke marijuana. They arrested the client and charged him with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Kane County criminal defense attorney, James Dimeas, has been handling drug and gun cases throughout Kane County for over-27 years. The moment James Dimeas reviewed the police reports, he realized that the police had no legal right to search the safe and realized that the police had conducted an illegal search and violated his client’s constitutional rights. James Dimeas filed a motion to suppress the search because the police did not have a warrant to search the safe and there was no legally recognized exception to the Constitutional requirement that the police have a warrant to conduct a search.

The court conducted a hearing to determine whether the police had the legal right to search the safe. The police officer testified that it was the Department’s policy to seize guns in a residence when an Order of Protection is involved. However, the Department’s policy is not backed by any state law. There is no law in Illinois that requires the police to seize any firearms when an Order of Protection is issued. The state argued that the client was required to surrender his FOID card when the Emergency Order of Protection was issued. However, the Order of Protection that had been issued that morning, did not require that the client turn over his FOID card. The box that requires this was not checked. James Dimeas produced a letter from the Illinois State Police dated three days after the search of the safe which informed the client that he had 48 hours to turn over his FOID card to the Illinois State Police and to turn over any Firearms to the local police. But this letter was dated three days after the search of the safe.

After hearing all of the arguments and all of the evidence, the Court ruled that the police had no legal right to seize the client’s firearms so any evidence seized as a result of the illegal search of the gun safe was suppressed and not allowed into evidence in his case. Faced with the fact that the evidence could not be used against the client, the state had to drop and dismiss the Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charges.

Early in the case, the State offered the client a plea agreement that would have required that he plead guilty, perform several hours of community service, and pay hundreds of dollars in fees and court costs. Since Kane County criminal defense lawyer, James Dimeas, recognized that his client’s rights were violated he would not agree to accept a plea agreement and would have forced his client to plead guilty to the criminal charges. James Dimeas was able to use his over-27 years of experience handling drug cases throughout Kane County to avoid having a client plead guilty to a case that was without any legal merit and was based on evidence that had been illegally seized by the police.

James Dimeas has been successfully handling criminal cases throughout Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, and Lake County for over-27 years.

James Dimeas has over-26 years of experience handling gun and drug cases throughout Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, and Lake County. James Dimeas is a nationally-recognized, award-winning, Kane County criminal defense attorney and published author. The National Trial Lawyers named James Dimeas a “Top 100 Criminal Defense Trial Lawyer.” Expertise named James Dimeas a “Best Criminal Defense Lawyer in Chicago.” Mr. Dimeas has been named a “Best DUI Attorney.” The American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys named James Dimeas a “10 Best Attorney for Client Satisfaction.” Recently, the American Society of Legal Advocates named James Dimeas a “Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyer In the State of Illinois For the Year 2018, 2019, and 2020.” Attorney and Practice Magazine gave James Dimeas the “Top 10 Criminal Defense Attorney Award for Illinois,” and the award for “DUI Defense Top 10.” The National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys gave James Dimeas the “Top 10 Attorney Award for the State of Illinois.” AVVO rates James Dimeas as “Superb,” 10 out of 10, the highest rating possible for any gun and drug criminal defense lawyer in the United States.

If you are facing criminal charges in Kane County, you can contact James Dimeas for a free and confidential consultation. You can always speak to James Dimeas personally by calling him at 847-807-7405. James Dimeas has an office in Schaumburg, close to Kane County and is always available to help you successfully resolve your criminal charges in Kane County.