Embezzlement charges have been dropped against the former secretary of a Carpentersville, Illinois real estate firm after critical computer evidence in the case against her was destroyed by her past employer and defense evidence was stolen.

A client of the law offices of Michael T. Norris, Ltd., and John W. Callahan, Ltd., the woman faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted of felony theft and misuse of a credit card. She was accused of embezzling almost $1.1 million from Commercial Property Associates of Carpentersville between January 2001 and September 2006.

Defense attorney Michael Norris and John Callahan filed a motion with the court to dismiss the case because a loss of evidence compromised the accused woman's ability to defend herself at trial. The judge agreed and dismissed the case.

While the business owner denounced the decision, it was the business owner himself who had a duty to preserve the evidence in his possession. By taking an action that destroyed the evidence (whether that destruction of evidence occurred inadvertently or on purpose), he disobeyed a court order to preserve the evidence.

The an Assistant State's Attorney on the case stated, "... When the records that were central to the case were compromised, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the charges, and that was the correct decision under the law. The remedy for the destruction of evidence is dismissal."

Attorney Michael T. Norris has been a licensed criminal law attorney in Illinois since 1971, including five years working in the State Attorney's Office in Cook County. He has been featured in a television docudrama and his cases covered in numerous local newspaper articles.