Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures". An arrest, including a DUI arrest, constitutes a seizure.

If a court (judge) finds that a seizure is unreasonable, the arrest is deemed illegal. For the most part, any evidence gathered as a result of the arrest is also illegal.

Due to United States Supreme Court decisions, the remedy for an illegal arrest is to suppress ("throw out") the evidence. Without evidence, the state cannot prove its case, resulting in dismissal of the charges. (This is what is meant by "a technicality").

The Constitution does not specify when a seizure is or is not "unreasonable", a wise choice since what can be viewed as unreasonable in one time and place can be considered reasonable in another. It is left to the courts to decide where to draw the line.

The Illinois court system has three layers. The first is the trial court. This is what most people consider "court" with judges, juries, and presentation of witnesses and other evidence all playing a part.

The next level, if is either side is unhappy with the decision and has the time and money to take it further, is the appellate court. In Illinois, there are five appellate court districts, broken down by geography. So, for instance, the Fourth Appellate District, whose physical location is in Springfield, would hear an appeal from a Macon County (Decatur) case.

Appellate court cases do not involve either party presenting additional evidence. Instead, the lawyers argue the case based upon the evidence presented at the trial court.

Each of the five appellate courts consists of a three-judge panel that, after hearing the arguments and reading the briefs (papers) of the lawyers, issues a written decision usually published for all to read. All trial court judges are required to follow the rules set out in the published appellate court decisions.

Continue reading "Fourth Amendment Rights in Driving Under the Influence Prosecutions" »

On April 21, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court, in a unanimous 7-0 opinion, issued a ruling important to Illinois DUI lawyers. Understanding the decision requires some knowledge of Illinois DUI law.

The state has several methods at its disposal to sustain a DUI charge. The traditional means is to prove that as a result of your consumption of alcohol, your ability to drive was impaired. This is the "actual impairment" DUI.

Prosecutors were finding it too hard to prove actual impairment. Therefore, in order to stack the deck against those charged with DUI, the Illinois General Assembly passed DUI laws that make it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, which was originally .10 but is now .08.

This number represents the percent of alcohol in your bloodstream. Prosecutions that rely upon the .08 are known as "pro se alcohol" violations.

The per se blood alcohol legal limit can be measured by actual blood samples, which is expensive and time-consuming. So, to make it easier for the state to convict you of DUI, the law allows the police to demand that you give a breath sample by blowing into a mouthpiece connected to a machine (the Breathalyzer). This machine supposedly converts the breath sample into blood alcohol level equivalents.

Sometimes the police claim that a person is under the influence of illegal drugs. This is also illegal but hard to prove as it requires proof of actual impairment from the drugs.

Likewise, you may be taking legally dispensed prescription medications. The police may suspect your medications are impairing your driving. If so, you are guilty of DUI. But again, actual impairment is hard to prove.

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court rules on important Driving Under the Influence (DUI) case" »

If you are arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in the State of Illinois, you immediately have two cases. One involves the criminal case (jail, fines, probation etc). The other involves the driver's license.

Your driver's license will be suspended for a period of time, anywhere from 6 months to 3 years, depending upon your driving record and whether or not you agreed to provide a breath or blood sample to the police. If you have not had a DUI arrest in the previous 5 years, you are a "first offender". As such, your driver's license will be suspended for 6 months if you submit to testing and 12 months if you refuse to submit to testing.

If you have had a DUI arrest in the previous 5 years, you are not a first offender. You will be suspended for 1 year if you submit to testing and 3 years if you refuse testing.

A non first offender is not entitled to any sort of driving privileges. You will not be able to drive for the entire suspension period, be that 1 year or 3 years.

A first offender can, after the first 30 days of a suspension, receive a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP). If you want one, it will cost you, both in fees to the state and to the facility that installs and monitors the breath testing device installed in your ignition system (BAIID). However, with an MDDP, you can drive anywhere, at any time, for any reason.

A suspension has an automatic ending date. When that date comes, you simple pay a fee and your driving privileges will be restored. The bigger problem arises if you are ultimately convicted of the DUI charge. Now your license is revoked for 1 year, 5 years or 10 years, depending upon whether you have any previous DUI convictions on your record.

Continue reading "Driver's License Reinstatement Fact Sheet" »

If you have been arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Illinois you may be eligible for an MDDP during the time your driver's license is suspended. During a DUI arrest, you will be asked to provide the police with a breath or blood sample to determine whether your blood alcohol level exceeds the legal limit. In Illinois, as in all 50 states, the legal limit is .08.

If you submit a blood or breath sample and register above .08, or you refuse to submit, your driver's license will be suspended. A suspension, unlike a driver's license revocation, automatically ends when the suspension period is over.

Should this be your second DUI offense in the past five years, your license will be suspended for 1 year or 3 years. If you submit to a test, the suspension will be for 1 year. If you decline to submit, the suspension will last for 3 years.

As you can see, the law is designed to encourage you to submit to testing, in order to make it easier for the police to prove their case. You are not allowed to drive for any purpose during the 1 or 3 year suspension, not even with a restricted driving permit (RDP). This forces a non first offender to think long and hard about whether to offer a blood or breath sample.

On the other hand, if you have not had a DUI arrest in the 5 years preceding a current arrest, your suspension time will be shorter and you may be eligible for an MDDP. Notice that you may be eligible for the MDDP even if this is not your first DUI offense. You are considered a first offender for MDDP purposes so long as the arrests are more than 5 years apart, no matter how many arrests are on your record.

Continue reading "Recent Revisions to Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP)" »

If you are convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Illinois, your driver's license will be revoked. In order to be allowed to drive legally, you must have a hearing with the Secretary of State.

There are certain steps for you to take in order to prepare for such a hearing. First, you will be required to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation. It is likely that you were presented such an evaluation to the judge at the time of your sentencing due following your DUI arrest.

You must obtain the evaluation from a professional evaluator licensed by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA) The evaluator interviews you concerning your past alcohol and drug related problems, if any, asks questions about the circumstances of your DUI arrest and ascertains other information about you.

The evaluator then plugs the information into a computer program that DASA requires all evaluators to use. The program, based upon the data inputted, generates a risk level for you, minimal risk, moderate risk, significant risk, high risk dependent or high risk non dependent.

The only way you can be minimal risk is if you have only one DUI arrest and a BAC reading of less than .15. If your BAC is at least.15 but under .20, or if you refuse to provide a breath or blood sample, you must be at least moderate risk.

Continue reading "Illinois DUI treatment requirements" »