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Faculty Linda J. Watson
Sole Practitioner at
Watson Law
Biography
Linda is a dynamic attorney who currently focuses her practice in criminal and family law. She helps those who have been wrongfully stopped or detained enforce their constitutional rights. Linda has been successful in suppressing wrongfully obtained evidence and knows how to obtain hard to get evidence. She focuses her family law practice on helping families create a healthy flow between households and quality communication between families. Linda is not afraid to make sure that children are always protected, by obtaining court ordered alcohol and drug treatments of parents and ensuring that parents follow strict appropriate codes of conduct and minimize the effect of a parent’s separation on children. Her solutions are creative and unique, often finding resolutions outside the box, specific to each client’s needs.
Prior to founding and building Watson Law in 2010, Linda was an assistant state’s attorney for nearly seven years, prosecuting everything from murder to traffic. She enjoys teaching continuing legal education both locally and nationally to other lawyers in such areas as digital forensic evidence and children’s hearsay statements admissibility. Ms. Watson has had a number of cases succeed at the Appellate level, having been published several times on new and novel issues including the use of Google Maps as probable cause, second seizure traffic stops, and complex child support issues.
In her spare time, Linda enjoys spending time with her husband of many years, and their teenage son. She is passionate in pursuing traveling, photography, reading, hiking, and learning a second language.
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Speaking Engagements
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Issues with Child Witnesses in Illinois Courts
View SpeechMay 30, 2019
New YorkWhen a child has been the victim of abuse or witnessed traumatic events, they may need to testify in court. For attorneys, working with child witnesses can be fraught. Children are particularly vulnerable witnesses, who may have a hard time recalling memories or describing their experiences coherently. This program, taught by Linda Watson, a family and criminal law attorney in Peoria, will guide attorneys through best practices when working with child witnesses. The course will address the admissibility of a child’s statements when describing abuse, and state of mind exceptions in a variety of contexts, such as when presenting evidence of a traumatic event or expressing a preference for where they live in a family matter. The program will also discuss what attorneys should - or should not - discuss with Guardians Ad Litem, when to involve a forensic evaluator, and issues with audio or video recordings of child witnesses.
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The Art of Admitting or Excluding Digital Evidence in Criminal Cases in Illinois
View SpeechMay 30, 2019
New YorkThe rules of evidence are not new, but adapting them to new technologies is a continuing learning experience for attorneys. This program, taught by Linda Watson, a family and criminal law attorney in Peoria, will guide attorneys through the technical requirements for admitting digital information into evidence in Illinois courts, including issues with hearsay, authentication and foundation, the rule of completeness, and addressing the question of whether a piece of evidence is prejudicial or probative. The program will also assist attorneys in the earliest stages of the evidence-gathering process, discussing what types of electronic information is considered digital evidence, where to look for it, and how to access and preserve it, including in cases where attorneys may need to seek a subpoena to obtain electronic information from platform providers. Finally, the program will discuss important case law updates related to the ways that new technology is pushing the boundaries of criminal law, including the legality of cell phone searches, what types of prosecutable crimes can be committed over social media, and whether Google apps can provide a basis for probable cause for law enforcement.
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Digital Forensic Evidence
View SpeechMay 01, 2016
Peoria County Bar AssociationWhat is Digital Forensic Evidence? A brief review of some of the more famous cases involving digital forensic. Presenting with local law enforcement, a detailed look into a cell phone's digital forensic footprint: examining both its advantages and its shortfalls. Finally a look at the developing law surrounding the admissibility of this special kind of evidence.
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Articles & Publications
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Text Messages + Suicide = Murder? Maybe
September 22, 2017
This summer, the world has watched with perplexity the trial of Massachussetts’ Michelle Carter (now 20), who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on June 16, 2017 for encouraging a suicide. The verdict has brought forth many questions of just how far technology is pushing the edge of criminal culpability. In the Carter case, the judge in his ruling did not just focus on the disturbing text messages Ms. Carter sent her friend Conrad Roy III just moments before his self inflicted death. He also focused on the fact she was on the phone with him when he stepped out of the fume-filled truck and Ms. Carter told him to “get back in.” According to the judge at the time of his ruling, Ms. Carter then listened to him die, never sending for aid.
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Our Evolving Notion of "Jury of Peers"
September 01, 2016
Recently a Central Illinois Judge dismissed an entire jury pool in a criminal case because there was not one single African American in the pool. The trial of the African American defendant was postponed. The question raised was: “what percentage of the jury pool must be African American” to have a ‘peer’ jury pool selection? To put it another way: how many people of a Defendant’s own ethnicity must be represented in a jury pool, in order to satisfy a Defendant’s constitutional right to be judged by their “peers”? The answer: None. For now. However, this constitutional right which is nearly 800 years old has been undergoing some pretty interesting changes in the last century.
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Going Solo with Work Life Balance
November 01, 2011
I’m passionate about my work. I was a prosecuting attorney for almost 7 years—up until the summer of 2010—with a specialization in domestic violence cases. In the summer of 2010, my then precocious three-year-old son asked me if I was ever going to be done working so I could play with him. Well, I’m passionate about him, too. I made a decision right then and there: I decided to open my own solo practice to bring flexibility into my life.
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Professional Memberships
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Illinois State Bar Association (Vice Chair Criminal Justice Committee)
2010
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American Bar Association (Member)
2010
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Peoria County Bar Association (Member)
2010
Education
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Chicago-Kent College of Law
Juris Doctorate (2002)
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Illinois State University
B.S. (1999)
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Bradley University
pending - second bachelor's / masters: Photography