Violation of Illinois Order of Protection Case Dismissed

In this case, which was handled by our Chicago criminal defense attorneys, the charge of a violation of an Illinois Order of Protection was dismissed and ultimately the original petition for the Order of Protection was dismissed.

As background, when a person files a Petition for an Order of Protection, the court will usually enter an "Emergency" Order of Protection, which is temporary, until the court can have a hearing on the Petition.

This is true because the court only hears one side of the story. However, that order can be challenged because the Respondent never had notice and so never had an opportunity to fight the Petition.

Once the Respondent is served with a copy of the Petition, he must obey the order, which usually requires him to have no contact with the Petitioner.

In this case, the Petitioner acquired an Emergency Order of Protection. The Respondent was served, and shortly after that, the Petitioner, called the police and claimed that the Respondent violated the Emergency Order by having a gift delivered to her at her place of work. The Respondent then faced the criminal charge of Violating an Order of Protection in addition to a Petition for a Civil Order of Protection.

The client then hired the Law Office of Steven R. Hunter. Steven R. Hunter appeared for him at bond court and challenged the allegations, as well as presenting evidence that showed that the client was a middle class businessman with no convictions. Although the client had to pay our legal fees, he saved more than that by having a low bond set. Since the Clerk of the Circuit Court keeps 10% of any bond posted, even after an acquittal, a high bond can be costly.

Next, Steven R. Hunter prepared to fight the criminal charge. He established an alibi for the client, and demanded discovery from the prosecution, including the time and place of the offense. This demand led the prosecutors to learn that the Petitioner never saw the gift delivered and had no way of proving who sent it. She just assumed it was from the client. Seeing they had a case they could not prove, the case was dismissed.

After that, the Law Office of Steven R. Hunter attacked the Petition for an Order of Protection. Citing specific sections of the Rules of Civil Procedure, Steven R. Hunter filed a motion for more specific information. Faced with this demand, the Petitioner agreed to continue the case for one year, with the judge ordering her and the client to each have no contact with one another during that time. Ultimately, the petition was dismissed. (Case number withheld upon request).