Thomas Brandstrader | Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyer

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About Thomas
Call today for your initial evaluation.
Experience
Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney
Thomas C. Brandstrader, Attorney at Law
1980 – Present
Chicago, IL
Admission
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh and Ninth Circuits
N/A
U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana
N/A
U.S. District Court, Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois
1983
California
1979
Illinois
1981
Education
San Diego State University-California State University
Bachelor (American History)
1976




Recognitions & Achievements
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Illinois Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Lawyers' Assistance Program, –1988 / present
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National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, –1988 / present
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Public Defender Negotiating Committee, –1987 / present
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Chicago Bar Association, –1980 / present
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Illinois State Bar Association, –1980 / present
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Public Defender's Union, Treasurer,1987
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Cook County Circuit Court Arbitration Program
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Recognized as Pre-eminent in Criminal Appellate Law, Leading Lawyers Network2007
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Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer's Rating of AV*, Martindale-Hubbell2007
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Appointed as Lead Counsel for Capital Litigation Cases, Illinois Supreme Court2002
Notable Work
-U.S. v Harold Beck, 10-00207 -U.S. v Dr. Darwin Minnis, 10 CR 00193 -U.S. v Davoud Baniameri, 09 CR 0736 -U.S. v Nellie Howard, 08 CR 0758 -U.S. v Katrice Adams, 08 CR 0606 -U.S. v Jung Bae, 07 CR 0799 -U.S. v Houghtaling, 08 CR 0893 -U.S. v Padilla, 04 CR 0784 -U.S v Cramer, 08 CR 40035 -U.S. v Sparkman, 07 CR 0263 -U.S. v Franklin 06 CR 00684 -U.S. v Gilbert Romero, 06 CR 0060 -U.S. v Romelle Smith, 05 CR 01030 -U.S. v Millan, 05 CR 00485 -U.S. v Harmon 05 CR 10021 -U.S. v Vincent Vance, 05 CR 0324 -U.S. v Adams 05 CR 1144 -U.S. v Gilmore 04 CR 0095 -U.S. v Bredician 04 CV 5693 -U.S. v Del Real, 04 CR 01079 -U.S. v Mendoza, 04 CR 00915 -U.S. v Katrina Pierce, 04 CR 0882 -U.S. v Fuad Abu Gosh, 04 CR 0680 -U.S. v Efrain Rendon, 04 CR 0651 -U.S. v Ballard 04 CR 820 -U.S. v Stephens 04 CR 00266 -U.S. v. Crowder 03 CR 0090 -U.S. v Straughter, 04 CR 0012 -U.S. v Heirderich 98 CR 00162 -U.S. v Oliver, 98 CR 00163 -U.S. v Sutton 02 Cr 1131 -U.S. v Sutton 03 CR 496 -U.S. v Watson 02 CR 990
-People v. Anthony Kolovitz et al., 148 IL2d 15, (1992) -People v. Phillip Krasula, 194 Ill App. 3d 709, (1990) -People v. William Webb, 182 Ill App. 3d 908 (1989) -Village of Palatine v. Edward Regard, 136 IL2d 503, (1990) -People v. Kimberly Lagowski, 273 Ill App. 3d 1012(1995) -People v. Eugene Brown and Tracy Cooper, 277 Ill App. 3d 989(1996) -People v. Marco Salazar and David Corral, 284 Ill App. 3d 794 (1996) -People v. Amotto Jackson, 281 Ill App. 3d 759 (1996) -People vs. La Point 353 Ill.App.3d. 328 (2004) -People vs. Patterson, 347 Ill.App.3d. 1044 (2004) -People v Moser, 356 Ill.App.3d. 900 (2005) -People v Sven, 365 Ill.App.3d. 226, (2006) -People v Klebanowski, 221 Ill.2d. 538 (2006) -People v Suastegui, 374 Ill. App. 3d. 635, (2007) -People v Aguilar, 396 Ill.App.3d. 43, (2009) -People v Vega, 08-1532 (2010), People v Dorrough, 09-3200 (2010)
-People v Yates No. 53482 Case No. 77 4339 (death penalty case) -People v Marques No. 80 2359 -People v Roberts No. 80-2570 -People v Webb 1-88-714 -People v Shelly 1-88-921 -People v Regard 1-88-2383 Heard in the Supreme Court No. 69124 -Village v Lake Zurich v Keefe 2- 88-1199 -People v Figiel 1-88-3373 -People v Caban 1-89-2870 -People v Greco 90-0396 -People v Sweeney 1-90-0631 -People v Mitchell 2-91-0517 -People v Espinoza 1-91-1217 -People v Marquez 1-91-2802 -People v Brown 1-91-2414 -People v Del Grosso 1-91-3971 -People v Separza 1-92-1146 -People v Mounts 1-92-2314 -People v Uriostegui 1-92-3046 -People v Oracko 4-93-0751 -People v Lagowski 1-93-1853 -People v Baby etal. 1-94-1991-1999 -People v Brown 1-93-3430 -People v Cooper 1-93-3431 -People v Stokes 1-93-3867 -People v Sutton 1-94-0000 -People v Alexander 1-94-0813 -People v Jackson 1-94-2304 -People v Arthur 1-94-4456 -People v McMahon 2-95-0143 -People v Pittas 1-95-0457 -People v Ewing 1-95-0877 -People v Beyah 1 -95-0320 -People v Henricksen 2-95-0951 -People v Kwon 1-95-1492 -People v Heuermann 1-95-1637 -People v Heuermann 1-95-1638 -People v Diaz 1-95-1820 -People v Salazar and Corral 1-95-1895 -People v Clark 1-95-2605 -People v Childs 1-95-2933 -People v Boer 1-95-2728 -People v Thompson 1-95-3272 -People v Cole 1-95-3300 -People v Mc Dade 1-95-3510 -People v Hodel 1-95-3555 -People v Gilchrist 1-96-0051 -People v Almond 1-96-1114 -People v Johnson 1-96-1288 -People v Warren 1-96-1563 -People v Pittman 1-96-1772 -People v Hudson 2-97-1266 -People v Anson 1-97-2450 -People v Hinton 1-97-3922 -People v Ruiz 1-97-2822 -People v Barbary 2-98-0390 -People v Bennett 2-98-0408 -People v Brackens 2-98-0630 -People v Carey 1-98-0770 -People v Ford 1-98-2433 -People v Richardson 1-98-3404 -People v West 1-98-3707 -People v Jones aka James 1-98-4509 -People v Kohout 2-99-0205 -People v Ruiz 1-99-1372 -People v Brown 1-99-3459 -People v Cervantes 1- 00-3865 -People v O’Connor 1-01-0067 -People v Edwards 1-00-0016 -People v Snyder 2-01-0696 -People v La Point 2-02-1002 -People v Bressendorf 4-02-0625 -People v Jackson 1-02-1533 -People v Ruhl, 03-0920 -People v Orbe, 1-03-0997 -People v Patterson 5-03-0535 -People v Cervantes 1-03-1165 -People v Frawley 1-03-3174 -People v Beierwaltes 2-03-1242 -People v Ephraim 1-03-3638 -People v Klebanowski 1-04-0119 -People v Moser 2-04-0477 -People v Snyder, 04-0613 -People v Alcantar 1-04-1005 -People v Sami, 04-1269, 04-1270, 04-1299, 04-1300 -People v Kramarenko 05-0127 -People v Lucas 05-3222 -People v Del Prete 05-0868 -People v Bajdo 05-2797 -People v Suastegui 05-2429 -People v Ruhl 03-0920 -People v Duan 05-0515 -People v Hopkins 06-1312 -People v Nelson 06-0312 -People v Goldman 06-0344 -People v Samanta, 06-3381 -People v Beutler 07-1077 -People v Bryant 07-2220 -People v Harrison 07-0452 -People v Jordan 07-2116 -People v Alvardo, 07-2232 -People v Corley, 08-0473 -People v Karim, 08-0710 -People v Aether, 08-0866 -People v Aguilar 08-1015 -People v Leonard, 08-1800 -People v Wiek, 08-1810 -People v Walls, 08-2174 -People v Makiel, 08-0921 -People v Martin, 08-1973 -People v Gomez, 08-2266 -People v Fortner, 08-1710 -People v Vega 08-1532 -People v Griffin, 08-2599 -People v Ash, 08-3581 -People v Chest, 09-1031 -People v Pulido, 09-2464 -People v Foy, 09-0588 -People v Samanta, 09-0589 -People v Zavala, 09-1593 -People v Dorrough, 09-0327 -People v Evans, 09-1389 -People v Milton, 09-3100 -People v Lembke, 10-0102 -People v Ehlers, 11-0131 -People v Noble, 11-409 -People v Opalinksa, 11-0486 -People v Krol, 11-2514 -People v Robinson, 11-2369 -People v Gaston, 11-3460 -People v Thomas, 11-3675 -People v Briggs, 12-0115 -People v Jordan, 12-0439 -People v Lloyd, 12-0921 -People v Foy, 12-2099 -People v Ash, 12-3485 -People v Jackson, 12-3258 -People v Curry, 13-0009 -People v Wilkerson, 13-0552 -People v Williamson, 13-0640 -People v Sepulveda, 13-0714 -United States v Villicana (5th 13-10016) -People v Fluker, 13-1263 -United States v Johnson, 13-1531 -United States v Jackson, 13-2649 -People v Sinico, 13-2164 -People v Anima, 14-0504 -People v Manning, 14-0561 -People v Carballido, 14-0760 -People v Swaggerty, 14-0854 -People v Beltran, 14-1764 -People v Estrada, 14-1806
FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND JURY TRIALS
-People v Bridges, 13 CF 01552 -People v Keogh, 11 CR 7673 -United States v Raniey, 11 CR 589-02 -United States v Leroy Goree, 10 CR 778-2 -People v Charles Anderson, 09 CR 10563 -People v Anthony Johnson, 04 CR 15600 -People v Glen Miles, 04 CR 9647 -People v Michael Brown 08 CF 0181 -People v Hollis Dorrough, 06 CR 21866 -People v Aguilar, 06 CR 12064 -People v Swaggerty, 05 CF 0289 -U.S v Harold Crowder 03 CR 0090-08 -U.S. v Adams 05CR1144 -U.S. v Gilmore 04CR0095 -People v Turpin 04CR 0447 -People v Cory Phillips 03 CR 1144 (death penalty case) -People v Zumut 02 CR 20899 -People v Chatman 02 CR 14572 -People v Aceves 02 C6 001448 (natural life case) -People v Klebanowski 02 CR 5490 -People v LaPoint 02 CF 0185 -People v Cervantes 97 CR 9629 -People v Johnson 00 CR 24132 (natural life case) -People v Wilson 01 CR 19062 -People v Alcantar 00 CR 24437 -People v Changyalket 01 CR 4445 -People v Fluker 96 CR 2212 -People v Sanchez 99 CR 14495 (death penalty case) -People v Williams etal 98 CR 10873 -People v Crout etal. 98 CR 20570 (death penalty case) -People v Ganaway et al. 98 CR 3873 (death penalty case) -People v Hinton 96 CR 19717 -People v Hinton 92 CR 10235 -People v James 95 CR 2530601 -People v Viglietti 94 CF 2917 -People v Patterson 95 CR 24359 -People v Chambliss 95 CR 24585 -People v Jackson etal 92 CR 1355602 (death penalty case) -People v Shade 94 CR 2207101 -People v Thomas 94 CR 2786001 -People v Zmyslowski 94 CR 1646 -People v Stokes 92 CR 18217 -People v Boston 89 CR 10543 -People v Harvey 88 CR 1108801 -People v Lettieri 86 C2 20100001 -People v Edwards 84 13481; People v Robinson 84 13035
Illinois Appellate Decisions, Illinois Appellate Decisions - over 90 published appeals
Questions & Answers
Please describe a case in the last year or two where you made a big difference.
Client found not guilty of possession of six million dollars worth of cocaine after unlawful stop and illegal search.
How did you build a successful practice?
Hard work, pro bono involvement, participation in criminal law seminars and criminal law committees
What should clients look for in a lawyer?
Honesty
How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases?
Very important...you have to know your playing field
What information can you provide in a free phone consultation?
Possible outcomes, broad strokes in strategy and expectations
What information do you need in a free phone consultation?
Charges, background, expectations in outcome
What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community?
Experience, hard work, up to date knowledge of criminal law, appellate and post conviction experience
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Helping those who need it most
What are your other interests in addition to law?
Chicago Cubs
Are you involved in your community?
My focus is my family and my work
Thomas C. Brandstrader, Attorney At LAW Highlights
Criminal