This is more of a technical and legal posting intended for DUI and DWI Lawyers in Illinois. In researching an issue where a police officer destroyed a urine sample, what law can be applied in aiding a motion to dismiss?
625 ILCS 5 / 11-501.2 states in part…
“Upon the request of the person who shall submit to a chemical test or tests at the request of a law enforcement officer, full information concerning the test or tests shall be made available to the person or such person’s attorney.”
Obviously, there is a statutory duty on the police and the State beyond just a Brady violation to tender the results of the test (even if no results were actually received).
In my own practice I will be using this statute as a basis to support a motion to dismiss the DUI and reckless driving charges.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Bridgeview, Illinois
There are many Illinois DUI lawyers out there who have no idea if their client can obtain court supervision in Illinois for driving while license suspended / revoked. I have even heard judges claim that the 6-303 charge in Illinois is not supervision eligible. This is not true.
730 ILCS 5/5-6-1 (j) of the Illinois Sentencing Statute says that if a person has been found guilty of driving on a suspension or revocation that was based off of a DUI, he is eligible for court supervision if the defendant has not within the last 10 years been:
(1) convicted for a violation of Section 6‑303 of the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance; or has not been
(2) assigned supervision for a violation of Section 6‑303 of the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Skokie, IL
Very often clients come into my office after they have met with another DUI lawyer for their case in DuPage County. The other lawyers told the client that because they submitted to a breath examination with greater than .08 that the lawyer should not file the Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary suspension. As a practicing DUI lawyer in Wheaton, DuPage County, I could not disagree more. You can’t win if you don’t try. I always file the Petition to Rescind as soon as I possibly can after my clients retain me. Just this week I was able to win a DUI suspension where the client had a BAC of nearly 0.24 – three times the legal limit! How? We filed the Petition immediately and when push came to shove in the courtroom, the State could not provide enough evidence to support their case that day.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Schaumburg, IL
As a lawyer who handles DUI cases in Chicago I have seen many unusual twists and turns in my clients’ DUI matters. A very unusual situation occurred recently where a client was charged with DUI and given a court date at the Daley Center. As is our practice on any DUI charge in Chicago, my law firm filed a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension immediately after my client retained us to try to protect his license from being suspended after the 46 day waiting period.
When we appeared in Chicago for the first court date on the DUI, no file was present in court. Not only that, but the Circuit Clerk at the Daley Center had no record of this Chicago DUI arrest. We called the Secretary of State and they had no record of any pending summary suspension either. This was now 45 days after the original DUI arrest.
A few days ago, my client received a note from the Secretary of State indicating that he was eligible for the MDDP permit while on the suspension. He did not receive any notice that his license was or would be actually suspended from the Secretary of State, just the MDDP notice. I made a few calls to the Secretary of State and finally received confirmation that he was suspended several days earlier.
The next morning I waited in the attorney line at the Daley Center and motioned his Chicago DUI up for a hearing that morning. The State objected to my argument that the judge should rescind the suspension based on a due process argument, but because the failure or delay on the suspension issue was not occasioned by the defendant, the judge granted my Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension.
This means the entire suspension from this DUI arrest that happened in Chicago will be removed from my client’s record. Very happy for him. But as a DUI lawyer in Chicago, that was a very rare way to beat the DUI suspension.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Chicago, IL
Yesterday, DUI attorney Michael Norris won another felony trial in Bridgeview, Illinois. The jury trial lasted two days. Mike Norris successfully cross examined the police officer who pulled the client over. Interestingly, Mike had his client testify and utilized the defense of necessity. The jury was given a necessity instruction and after deliberating for a short time came back with a verdict of not guilty on both the felony DUI charge and the felony driving while license revoked charge. Had the client been found guilty, he would have served upwards of 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
People v. M.H.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Bridgeview, Illinois
As I was helping Michael Norris prepare for his felony jury trial tomorrow in Bridgview, he needed a few Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions printed out. I thought it might be informative to add a link to the index for the instructions where they can be accessed and printed for free…
http://www.state.il.us/court/circuitcourt/CriminalJuryInstructions/default.asp
Good luck at your trial!
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Bridgeview, Cook County, Illinois
Clients often come in to my office and ask if it is possible to beat a DUI with a high BAC. The answer is, yes! While in Illinois it is still typically better for a DUI client to refuse the breathalyzer, a BAC over .08 can still be beat. Just yesterday we saw some problems with one of our client’s traffic stops on his DUI. Even though he blew a .17 we filed a motion to quash his arrest based on an unlawful stop. The judge agreed and the clients case was dismissed.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Schaumburg
Some clients in DuPage and McHenry counties are charged in cities or villages that have a local prosecutor rather than the State’s Attorney. Examples would be Elmhurst, Carol Stream, and Naperville. Each of these towns uses a local prosecutor to prosecute their DUI cases. Sometimes, however, the local entity will not be allowed to prosecute the case due to Illinois law if the client was arrested for an additional offense like resisting arrest or endangering the life of a child, etc. When that happens, the State takes over the case and the local prosecutor steps back.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Naperville
Had a DUI trial up against the Illinois State Police today but was able to negotiate a great result for my client where his suspension was rescinded and all but one of the charges were dropped against him in DuPage Court. Client was very happy!
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:DuPage County
When going to an informal hearing there is a relatively new requirement that the treatment provider must provide a detailed drinking history of the petitioner from the time of his / her first drink until current.
Without this drinking history, there is no access to the hearing.
- Posted by John Callahan
Location:Chicago
