School Threat Reduced & Expunged

DuPage County, Illinois Student Defense Lawyers

We answer the phone over far more than just weekday business hours, because criminal matters can have urgency around the clock. One evening we received a call from a dad who told us that during the night, detectives had come to their house to question their son about making threats to his high school.

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office treats school threats with zero tolerance, so due to the severe nature of the possible offenses their son could be charged with, we rearranged the schedule to meet with the family early the next morning. After speaking with them, the family decided it was wise to retain our firm even though the son had not yet been charged with anything. We immediately reached out to the police department and the State’s Attorney’s Office, informing them that we represented this minor in the investigation.

The State’s Attorney’s Office agreed to our request that rather than the police going to arrest our client whenever charges were approved, that we would surrender our client in court, as we have done before many times when we are hired in the investigation phase. After speaking with the family, we were able to show the prosecutor that our client had been having issues with a fellow student at his school who was bullying him. As a result, the State’s Attorney’s Office agreed to reduce this matter from a serious felony to a class C misdemeanor.

Because of the reduction of the charges, we then recommended that our client would be able to have this charge expunged upon his successful completion of his court supervision, which he did. As a result, our client will not have this matter on his record when he applies for colleges and employment, which is a very important matter for a young person with their whole life ahead of them.