Can the State Drop Sex Crime Charges in Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorneys Christopher Combs and Joshua Boardman discuss everything you need to know about Illinois sex crime charges, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, rape, and more.
Combs Waterkotte is a leading criminal defense law firm serving Illinois and Missouri. Our Illinois defense attorneys will fight for your freedom and rights. If you are facing charges in Chicago, Cook County, or anywhere across Illinois, we can help. Call us at (312) 500-HELP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: Can the State drop sex crime charges in Illinois?
Joshua Boardman: You should not go into a sex crime case automatically assuming that they are going to drop it because based on the classifications of sex crimes, they are very serious felonies. And so state’s attorneys often highlight those types of cases as one that they’re dedicating special attention to. But cases are dropped for a number of reasons. One, law enforcement may get a report or a mandated reporter may get a report from someone that has levied some sort of accusation of a sex crime. The state’s attorney’s office may be investigating that more deeply and there may be inconsistencies. There may be legitimate alibis. There could be defenses like consent or something like that are presented to the state’s attorney’s office and, “We don’t feel as though we can meet our burden of proof at trial,” which is a constant thinking of theirs or mindset of theirs, so they’ll dismiss it. Do not expect it, but it can happen.
