Accused of Illinois sex offense. Arrested and taken to jail. Lawyer defends him. Not guilty.
Cook County criminal lawyer Lewis Gainor defended a young man who was arrested for a sex offense in Highland Park in 2005. The man was a Mexican immigrant living in Highwood, Illinois, working and sending money back to his family in Mexico. He and his friends had the day off work on May 22, 2005.
On that date, they went to Walgreen's near the Metra Union Pacific North Line to use the pay phone. It was their ritual to call home on the phone every week to confirm that their families had received their money.
A woman who was patronizing the store complained about him, though. She called the police and alleged that he pulled his pants down and exposed his penis to her in the parking lot.
The Highwood Police Department sent an emergency squad car to the scene. The police officer placed the man in handcuffs and took him to jail.
The Lake County State's Attorney prosecuted the man. They sought a jail term, and wanted him to register as a sex offender for ten years. A conviction for the offense would certainly mean he would be deported.
Cook County criminal lawyer Lewis Gainor told his client not to plead guilty. He demanded a jury trial, so that the prosecution would have to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial commenced on June 1, 2006 in Circuit Court. Lewis Gainor aggressively questioned the young woman about the incident. Through his pinpoint cross-examination, he made the woman admit what had really happened.
She had thought as she walked in the store that Lewis Gainor's client had looked at her flirtatiously. So, she told her boyfriend. Her boyfriend, it happened, was getting drunk at a nearby bar. He ran to the scene and began throwing punches at the Mexican man. When the police arrived, she was afraid that her boyfriend would be arrested for attacking him, so she made up a lie that the Mexican man had exposed his penis. The police believed her, and arrested an innocent man.
Attorney Lewis Gainor exposed her lies in court.
The jury found the man not guilty of all charges.
I take great pride in my work, but especially with clients who are innocent and wrongly accused. I believe in my clients, and in the work that I do." - Lewis Gainor
