Chicago Tribune
Attorney wants unlawful use of weapon charges against Chicago man dropped
| (Tribune illustration) |
9:40 p.m. CDT, March 11, 2013
A Chicago man found with a loaded gun in his car says felony weapons charges against him should be dropped because of a court ruling that tossed out Illinois' concealed carry ban.
Deafalla Haddad was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon after he was pulled over for speeding in November in Schiller Park and informed the officer he was carrying a loaded gun in a waistband holster.
His attorney, Matt Fakhoury, said the case should be dismissed because the law Haddad broke was found to be unconstitutional and because his actions would be legal in any other state.
"He did everything as a lawful citizen," Fakhoury said. "The courts ruled that the law, as it stands now, is unconstitutional because it does not allow for law-abiding citizens to (own and carry) a weapon. ... There's not a scratch on his record."
Illinois was the last state with a concealed weapons ban when a federal appeals court tossed out the law in December and gave legislators six months to revise it to allow people to carry guns legally. The Illinois attorney general could decide to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Haddad, a 29-year-old married father of three, said he legally obtained an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification card and a .45-caliber Glock pistol after a man jumped on his car and attacked him with a wiper blade on Chicago's North Side in early 2012.
"He jumped up and landed on the hood of my car, like the 'Incredible Hulk,'" Haddad said. He said he stepped out of his car, at first thinking he had struck the man, but then the man ripped off a wiper blade and began to strike him.
"I was attacked. I was scared," Haddad said after a hearing Monday in Cook County court during which his attorney sought to have the charges dismissed.
Haddad said no one was ever arrested in that incident. Several months later, he said, he was pulled over for speeding and told the officer that he had the loaded weapon. His lawyer said Haddad faces a mandatory minimum of one year in prison if convicted.
Fakhoury contends Illinois' concealed carry ban is not only illegal but that it prevents average, law-abiding people from protecting themselves in a legitimate way.
A ruling on the motion to dismiss charges against Haddad could come at his next court date in April.
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