According to the Illinois Secretary of State 2012 DUI FactBook, 85% of all people arrested for DUI in Illinois in 2010 were first-time offenders. Also according to the report, 3,440 motorists resulted in revocations after their second offense, 866 for their third, and 436 for their fourth or later (a revocation only occurs after a conviction, and does so automatically). The overall number of DUI arrests has decreased annually from 2008 through 2010 as well.
Unless police simply aren't arresting as many people for some reason, it would appear that Illinois' efforts at preventing recidivism, or the tendency to re-offend, are largely effective.
In Illinois, motorists charged with DUI for the first time are generally eligible for a special one-time chance to dispose of their case via a sentence of Court Supervision. After a finding of guilty, whether after trial or plea of guilty, a defendant can avoid a conviction and jail as long as they comply with certain conditions. This is no free ride - there are significant fines, alcohol education classes and treatment are required, and a criminal record remains forever. The Court also requires a VIP or victim impact panel run by MADD, and can require significant community service, random alcohol testing and other conditions.
Consistent with the Secretary of State's previous reports on the issues I've written about, the cost of a DUI remains extremely high, and the Secretary of State still pegs the estimated cost of a first DUI at over $16,000.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Grayslake police chief charged with DUI - refused all testing. Wonder why?
The Grayslake Illinois police Chief was charged with drunk driving after a Wisconsin crash Friday. In a wise move that will be no surprise to anyone knowledgable about DUI law and enforcement, the Chief refused to submit to any field sobriety testing, refused medical treatment (which potentially includes blood and urine testing) and refused an evidentiary or forensic blood testing.
Why do this?
Naturally, people tend to think the police live by their famous motto of "To Protect and Serve," and that's certainly usually part of the mix. That said, in the matter of DUI, it's a bit more like "To Investigate and Arrest".
The tests aren't really a chance to prove you're not under the influence of alcohol. They're really to help support the officer's decision to arrest. And by the time you're doing the tests, most officers have already made that decision.
How do I know this? Let's take a short trip down Logic Lane.
One field sobriety test is the Heel-Toe or Walk-and-Turn test. "Failure" of this test occurs when any two "clues" are observed. Clues include things like leaving more than a one inch gap between feet, raising arms at any time more than 6" away from the body, stepping off an imaginary line. There are a total of 18 steps in either direction. So if on one out of eighteen steps, you leave a two inch gap between steps and also raise your arms 6.5" (in the officer's eagle-eyed estimation) you've failed, despite walking the other 17 steps just fine. In any school in the world, 17/18 is an "A", but not here.
Now you can begin to understand why the Chief, who of course knows all of this, refused testing.
Why do this?
Naturally, people tend to think the police live by their famous motto of "To Protect and Serve," and that's certainly usually part of the mix. That said, in the matter of DUI, it's a bit more like "To Investigate and Arrest".
The tests aren't really a chance to prove you're not under the influence of alcohol. They're really to help support the officer's decision to arrest. And by the time you're doing the tests, most officers have already made that decision.
How do I know this? Let's take a short trip down Logic Lane.
One field sobriety test is the Heel-Toe or Walk-and-Turn test. "Failure" of this test occurs when any two "clues" are observed. Clues include things like leaving more than a one inch gap between feet, raising arms at any time more than 6" away from the body, stepping off an imaginary line. There are a total of 18 steps in either direction. So if on one out of eighteen steps, you leave a two inch gap between steps and also raise your arms 6.5" (in the officer's eagle-eyed estimation) you've failed, despite walking the other 17 steps just fine. In any school in the world, 17/18 is an "A", but not here.
Now you can begin to understand why the Chief, who of course knows all of this, refused testing.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Man bites dog: Woman with 0.295 breath test NOT charged with DUI in Illinois!
In a bizarre twist, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, a driver in an accident in Cook county, right around the corner from Chicago, Illinois, allegedly was found with a spent bottle of Patron, failed field sobriety tests, and then submitted to a breath test that showed a 0.295 breath alcohol level. For those who may have been living on Mars, that's a lot.
And then she was not charged with DUI.
The officer reportedly told the driver she was "getting a break." I have to agree - an Illinois DUI arrest means big trouble, including a minimum six month license suspension, criminal charges that carry penalties up to 364 days in jail and $2500 in fines plus court costs. As I've said here before, according to the Illinois Secretary of State, dealing with a DUI in Illinois costs around $15,000.00 when all is said and done. The Illinois Department of Transportation puts that number more at about $19,000.00.
So yes, while there may indeed be missing facts we don't have (maybe the officer saw the driver chugging the bottle of Patron while standing outside her car after the accident, or maybe she's in the Federal witness protection program?), it's fair to suggest this qualifies as "getting a break".
Most people aren't so lucky, and if you or your loved one is not "getting a break" on a DUI, criminal or traffic matter, don't hesitate to call and speak with me or one of my partners at Fagan, Fagan & Davis by calling 847-635-8200 now for a free consultation.
And then she was not charged with DUI.
The officer reportedly told the driver she was "getting a break." I have to agree - an Illinois DUI arrest means big trouble, including a minimum six month license suspension, criminal charges that carry penalties up to 364 days in jail and $2500 in fines plus court costs. As I've said here before, according to the Illinois Secretary of State, dealing with a DUI in Illinois costs around $15,000.00 when all is said and done. The Illinois Department of Transportation puts that number more at about $19,000.00.
So yes, while there may indeed be missing facts we don't have (maybe the officer saw the driver chugging the bottle of Patron while standing outside her car after the accident, or maybe she's in the Federal witness protection program?), it's fair to suggest this qualifies as "getting a break".
Most people aren't so lucky, and if you or your loved one is not "getting a break" on a DUI, criminal or traffic matter, don't hesitate to call and speak with me or one of my partners at Fagan, Fagan & Davis by calling 847-635-8200 now for a free consultation.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Will this be another oops? Illinois trials to be televised?
From the Chicago Tribune:
Illinois trials may soon be televised
The Illinois Supreme Court is promulgating rules that will allow a more open courtroom by allowing court proceedings to be televised. While this change is meant to be positive, as with many governmental "advances", this may actually create complex problems down the road. The article notes the possibility that witnesses may feel uncomfortable coming forward, and that's a valid problem, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.
Illinois has laws allowing expungement or sealing of case information in many types of cases where defendants are found not guilty or the case is dismissed, and even in some felony matters resulting in conviction. Once a Court orders a case sealed or expunged, the information about the case is sealed or even destroyed. A potential employer, for instance, would not be able to see information about that case.
What's the point?
What about visual search? Never heard of visual search? If not, you will. It's a technology in its toddling stages, well past infancy. Go ahead and do a Google search for "Visual Search" and as of this moment, you'll find some 30,500,000 results. You plug in your image or photo and the search engine looks for related material. And facial recognition software? It's here now. Apple's iPhone and iPad? There's an app for that. Motorola's Xoom comes with facial recognition built in.
So you beat a criminal charge at trial and go through the process of expungement all with help from your local highly qualified Illinois Criminal defense attorneys, but guess what? Your trial was televised! And some soul with more time than tact uploaded a copy of the video to, where else, YouTube. So when you pop in for your job interview, your interviewer snaps a photo, uploads it to the Google of visual search (which will probably be Google) and presto chango - Illinois' expungement law is circumvented.
I can't help but wonder if this was considered by the Illinois Supreme Court? What do you think?
Illinois trials may soon be televised
The Illinois Supreme Court is promulgating rules that will allow a more open courtroom by allowing court proceedings to be televised. While this change is meant to be positive, as with many governmental "advances", this may actually create complex problems down the road. The article notes the possibility that witnesses may feel uncomfortable coming forward, and that's a valid problem, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.
Illinois has laws allowing expungement or sealing of case information in many types of cases where defendants are found not guilty or the case is dismissed, and even in some felony matters resulting in conviction. Once a Court orders a case sealed or expunged, the information about the case is sealed or even destroyed. A potential employer, for instance, would not be able to see information about that case.
What's the point?
What about visual search? Never heard of visual search? If not, you will. It's a technology in its toddling stages, well past infancy. Go ahead and do a Google search for "Visual Search" and as of this moment, you'll find some 30,500,000 results. You plug in your image or photo and the search engine looks for related material. And facial recognition software? It's here now. Apple's iPhone and iPad? There's an app for that. Motorola's Xoom comes with facial recognition built in.
So you beat a criminal charge at trial and go through the process of expungement all with help from your local highly qualified Illinois Criminal defense attorneys, but guess what? Your trial was televised! And some soul with more time than tact uploaded a copy of the video to, where else, YouTube. So when you pop in for your job interview, your interviewer snaps a photo, uploads it to the Google of visual search (which will probably be Google) and presto chango - Illinois' expungement law is circumvented.
I can't help but wonder if this was considered by the Illinois Supreme Court? What do you think?
Monday, December 26, 2011
DUI - don't want one? Top ten things NOT to do!
This holiday weekend, I found a WGN news story simply inspiring:
Monday, November 21, 2011
No Breaking Dawn for this young lady. She's grounded.
Illinois Teenager Blames DUI Crash On Not Seeing 'Twilight' Film: Police Arrest Olivia Ornelas
Thousands of dedicated fans turned out over the weekend to see "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1." But for one teenage girl, the tragedy of not making it was a lot worse than choosing between Jacob or Edward.Oh yeah. HuffPo does an Illinois DUI story right.
Police in Illinois arrested an "extremely upset" 18-year-old girl on Saturday after she told authorities that she crashed her car because her boyfriend did not take her to see the new Twilight movie.
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