Criminal Defense Case Results
Our criminal defense case results come from courtrooms where the stakes are highest: federal juries in Chicago, appellate courts across the country, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
At The Law Offices of Beau B. Brindley, every case is prepared for trial from the first day, and that preparation is what produces the verdicts, dismissals, and appellate rulings collected here.
This page highlights the firm’s most significant outcomes. Full write-ups for more than 50 cases are organized by court below — federal trials, Illinois state cases, and appeals through the Supreme Court — each with the charges, the defense, and the result.
Featured Criminal Defense Case Results
The results below are the firm’s most significant outcomes across three levels of court: a unanimous United States Supreme Court ruling for physicians, acquittals in closely watched federal trials in Chicago, and convictions vacated on appeal. Each teaser links to the full case summary, which sets out the charges, the defense the firm mounted, and the result the court entered.
A Unanimous Supreme Court Win for Physicians
Ruan v. United States / Kahn v. United States · 2022
Beau Brindley argued for Dr. Shakeel Kahn before the Supreme Court and won a 9-0 judgment holding that prosecutors must prove a doctor knowingly or intentionally prescribed without authorization, not merely that he strayed from a medical standard. The Tenth Circuit then vacated all of Dr. Kahn’s convictions.
Acquitted in the R. Kelly Federal Trial
United States v. McDavid · Northern District of Illinois, 2022
In one of the most closely watched federal trials in Chicago in years, the firm defended Derrel McDavid, R. Kelly’s former business manager. The jury acquitted him on every count.
A New Trial After a 40-Year Sentence
United States v. Smithers · Fourth Circuit, 2024
A Virginia physician sentenced to 40 years had his convictions vacated after the firm showed the Fourth Circuit that his jury was never required to find what he actually intended, the standard the firm won in Ruan.
A Physician Found Not Guilty
United States v. Szyman · Federal jury trial, 2017
Facing 19 federal prescribing counts built on undercover patients and a government expert, Dr. Charles Szyman went to trial with the firm and was acquitted on all of them.
Two Wins for One Client
United States v. Richards · Federal trial and Seventh Circuit
Mr. Richards won twice: the Seventh Circuit vacated a conviction tainted by improper evidence of his past, and a jury found him not guilty of the cocaine charge.
Results by Court — Federal, Illinois State, and Appeals
More than 50 criminal defense case results are organized below by the court that heard them. The federal page covers drug, firearm, fraud, money laundering, and unlawful prescribing trials. The Illinois page covers acquittals and dismissals in Cook, Will, Kane, and other county courts. The appeals page covers the Supreme Court and the Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits.
Federal Criminal Defense Results
Not-guilty verdicts, dismissals, and hung juries in federal drug, firearm, fraud, money laundering, and unlawful prescribing cases, including the firm’s high-profile acquittals.
Illinois Criminal Defense Results
Acquittals and dismissals in Cook, Will, Kane, and other Illinois counties, many won by exposing officers’ testimony on cross-examination.
Criminal Appeals & Supreme Court Results
A unanimous Supreme Court ruling, convictions vacated in the Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits, reduced sentences, and a lasting change in Seventh Circuit law.
How These Results Are Won
Every case is prepared for trial. The firm does not build cases around a plea. Prosecutors know when a defense is ready to try a case, and that readiness drives dismissals and better outcomes long before a jury is seated.
Cross-examination decides cases. Again and again in these results, the turning point was a witness — an agent, an officer, a cooperator — whose account fell apart under questioning.
Trial work protects the appeal. Objections made and instructions requested at trial are what make an appellate win possible. That is how a jury-instruction dispute in a Wyoming courtroom became a unanimous Supreme Court ruling for physicians nationwide.
Protect Every Right You Have. Call Brindley Law Today.
A conviction is not the end. If errors affected your trial or sentence, a federal criminal appeals attorney may be able to change the outcome. Call The Law Offices of Beau B. Brindley at 312.765.8878 for a confidential consultation. As a criminal appeals attorney Chicago and nationwide clients rely on, we bring the same trial-ready preparation to every appeal. Your fight does not end when the verdict comes in.