Drunk Driving Defense Lawyer

Generally, a person will come into my office on a first time DUI, and I will explain that essentially the best way to view a DUI in the state of Illinois, if it is a first timer, is it is almost like a two-headed monster. There are two distinct parts to a DUI. The first part is called criminal, and the second part is civil. The criminal part of a DUI says that a DUI is a class A misdemeanor, punishable up to a year in a county jail, and up to a $2,500 fine, or any combination. Therefore, in the worst-case scenario, once again, you can receive a conviction for this offense, you can pay up to a $2,500 fine plus court costs, and that is somewhere approximately about $4,500. You could be looking at a year in a county jail.

Almost one-hundred percent of the time, if there is no aggravation to this first time DUI. What I mean by aggravation is that you were not involved in an accident where somebody was not hurt, or killed. If you were not involved in a high-speed chase, or threw a punch at the cop once he pulls you over, then the general understanding is, with all experienced criminal defense attorneys, the criminal part of the case, you are not looking at a conviction. In other words, it will not go on your public record as a conviction, and you will not be serving any jail time. In addition to that, you are not paying $2,500 fine and court costs of roughly $4,500.

The general outcome on something like this would be one year of court supervision, generally would be fines, and court costs near about $2,500, and no jail time. However, you would be required to get an alcohol evaluation, follow any recommendations along with doing traffic school, what they call a Victim Impact Panel, which essentially is a scared straight type of a program that lasts anywhere between two to three hours in Lake County, Illinois, which is where I am located. This takes place at the College of Lake County, the community college here in town. Essentially, you sit in auditorium with a bunch of other people who have been arrested for a DUI. One person will get on stage that is in prison now, and explain his story.

Another person will get up there with one leg saying that he is the victim of a drunk driving accident. That is the general understanding of what the worst case scenario will be for a first time DUI individual on the criminal side of the case. We hope to do better than that, because many people come into my office, never being involved in a criminal justice system, and you are concerned about, “Oh my God, I am going to go to jail”, or, “Oh my God, my license will be taken away forever”. Clearly, the answer to that would be “No”, absent any one of those aggravating factors, which I talked about earlier. That is the criminal part of the case. The civil part of the case is something completely different. The civil part of the case says that when they arrest you for a DUI, they bring you to the station.

At the station, they read you a document called A Warning to Motorists. And what the warning to motorists in a nutshell says for a first time DUI offender is what happens if you blow into the machine, or what happens if you refuse. When I say blow into the machine, I am talking about giving a chemical test, whether it be a breathalyzer test, or whether it be blood test taken at the hospital, which the officer can ask of you. Essentially the law says, if you submit to a chemical test, whether it be a blood test, or blow into the machine, and if you blow above the legal limit, which in the state of Illinois is a 0.08% amount of alcohol in your system, or for that matter, you have any amount of illegal drugs in your system, then you are looking at a six month suspension of your driving privileges.

If you refuse to blow into the machine, or submit to a chemical test, then at that point in time, you are looking at a one-year suspension of your driving privileges. Those suspensions, regardless whether it is six months, because you have submitted to a test, or one year, because you refused starts forty-six days after the date of your arrest. That is the civil part of the case. So, to reiterate, six months because you submitted, one year because you do not. Now, I know if you are a first time DUI offender, regardless of whether you blow, or not, I have the ability to get you a limited permit. It is not even limited to be honest with you. It would be a permit to drive during the entire pendency of your suspension. However, for that to occur, you are going to have the breathalyzer device attached to the ignition of your car.

That is generally the worst-case scenario when looking at the civil part of a DUI for a first time offender. So once again, backing up a little bit, on the criminal part, you are not going to go to jail, you do not have to pay $5,000, and you will not end up with a conviction on your record. The civil part of the case, worst-case scenario, is you are looking at a suspension, whether it is six months or a year. We can get you a permit to drive the entire time, from the day your suspension begins until a day your suspension ends, but you have to have the machine attached to the ignition of your vehicle. In the civil part of the case, we hope to do better than that, just like in the criminal part of the case.

If we cannot get the DUI criminal charge dismissed, amended, or modified to a lower charge, and in the civil part of the case, if we cannot get the suspension thrown out, at least you know that generally speaking, it is the starting point for a first time DUI individual. Now, when somebody comes into my office for a second or third penalty, those are more severe. On a second time DUI, if you are found guilty, you are looking at a mandatory revocation of your driving privileges. What it means in the state of Illinois, is that if you have had a first DUI, which has been taken care of in court, short of it being dismissed. If you pled guilty, or found guilty on that first time DUI, on a second DUI, if you are found guilty, or if you plead guilty to the DUI, you will receive a conviction.

A conviction in the state of Illinois revokes, or permanently takes away your license. The only way you can get back a license is by going to a hearing in front of the Illinois Secretary of State. Once again, a revoked license means forever, unless you take the active steps to get your license back, if you are a second time DUI offender, on the civil part of the case. The other part of the case is they look back five years, and see whether any of your earlier DUIs were in five years of each other. If they are not within five years, you are considered a first time offender, and you are looking at six months if you blow, or a one-year suspension if you refuse.

However, if your earlier DUI was within five years of a second DUI, then you are looking at a one-year suspension if you blow into the machine or a three-year suspension if you do not blow. Once again, none of that matters, because if you are guilty of the second DUI, on the criminal side, your license is revoked, and now will transfer over to any permit you have on the civil part of the case, and it will be revoked as well. The penalties on a second time DUI are much more significant when it comes to your driver’s license. With the law saying, that if you are guilty of a second time DUI in terms of any type of additional penalties against you, you would be looking at five days in jail, or two-hundred and forty hours of public service in addition to any fines, or court costs.

When you get to a third-time DUI or above, those charges are enhanced, or can be enhanced under Illinois law to felony charges. A third time DUI turns into class two felony, which is punishable from three to seven years in the penitentiary, although it is a probation-able charges, and needless to say, by that time, most of the time, your license has already been taken away as a result of the second DUI. Then above four or more DUIs, those are severe felony charges, but those are non-probation-able, which means that you can get probation, which means you are not incarcerated for a first, second or a third DUI, even the third DUI being a class II felony, punishable from three to seven years in the penitentiary, but it is probation-able. You can avoid jail time by doing any amount of public service.

For a fourth or fifth DUI, or more, those are non-probation-able charges, which mean if you are guilty, and charged, as if having prior DUIs before this one, you will be sent to prison. You are not eligible for any probation, and the minimum would be three years up to seven. If it is your fifth DUI, it goes to what they call a class I felony, and that is punishable from four to fifteen years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. That is a very brief understanding of DUI law, and that is what I would explain to people if they came into my office. The majority of them are first time offenders, but I deal with many second, and third-time offenders. I also deal with associated charges that go along with these DUIs.

With DUIs, people are arrested, but they slammed into a car in a process, and it becomes a hit and run, they will be charged with the DUI, but charged with leaving the scene of the property damage, or personal injury accident. I deal with cases where people are pulled over for a DUI, and their license has been revoked for an earlier DUI, or that they find illegal drugs in the car, or illegal guns in the car. Therefore, there could be a number of associated or joined cases that go along with many DUIs, but this would give somebody a basic understanding as to what Illinois DUI law is.

For more information on DUI Process In Illinois, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

Misconceptions vary from, in particular, how many DUIs you have had in the past. So on a first DUI, the biggest misconception is that people think they are going to end up with a conviction, and it is going to go on their record and everyone know about it. An individual, absent any aggravating factors, are not looking at a conviction, they are not looking at it going on your Illinois driving record. There are two driving records in the state of Illinois. One is a general public type of driving abstract or driving record, and that is for your employer, and your insurance company. That is for people who do credit scores, or check into your background. That is not for law enforcement.

They have a separate type of driving record called a Court Purposes Driving Record. That is for anything dealing with the courts along with the federal government, if you are going for some sort of top-secret clearance, military, or any type of sensitive job. That is available for law enforcement and governmental agencies only. In regards to your general public driving record, a DUI supervision, which as I mentioned earlier, is a non-conviction. It does not go on that record. When your employer or your credit agency scans your record, they are going to be scanning the general public record it will not show up.

However, on the other driving record, the court does show your records, because as I mentioned earlier, you are entitled to get supervision once in your life. On the first DUI, we are going to keep it off your record, and you are not going to end up with a conviction. That is called supervision. You are entitled to that once in a lifetime. Therefore, if you make a mistake at a young age and then you get another DUI when you are older, it does not matter. You cannot get supervision again, which means you must receive a conviction, a conviction would revoke, or permanently remove your license. You would have to go through the process of doing the hearing in front of the secretary of state.

In that regards, it would not show up on your general public record, but it would show up on your driving abstract for court purposes. That is how law enforcement makes sure that they have not used up your supervision earlier, or they know you have had supervision earlier. The prosecutor or the judge cannot give you supervision again for a conviction on a second or subsequent DUI. The biggest misconception is that people think they are automatically going to receive a conviction with all that goes with that. That is clearly not the case. Sometimes, people come into my office because they feel they are going to jail on a first time DUI, absent any aggravating factors, you do not go to jail for that.

What Are Some Mistakes People Make After They Have Been Arrested For A DUI?

The biggest one is just waiting; there are two parts to the case, criminal, and civil, the civil part of the case deals with this suspension. A suspension is going to start forty-six days after the date of your arrest. Many times, people will have a question as to why forty-six days, I have no idea. The state legislature here in Illinois decided forty-six days was enough time for you to hire an attorney, have your attorney file papers to challenge the validity of that pending suspension, that is called due process of law. Due process says that before the government can penalize you, whether it is take your children while you are deported, or take your driver’s license away, and incarcerate you, you have to have the ability to contest that particular governmental action.

They came up with forty-six days as sufficient amount of time for you to challenge the validity of that suspension before it goes into effect. The biggest common mistake people have is they wait until last minute to hire an attorney before their court date. If the officer gives you a court date forty days after the date of your arrest, and you hire an attorney on day thirty-eight, you only have about seven days before your license is going to be suspended. Therefore, even if you had a very diligent attorney to file the papers, and get the suspension thrown out, the judge would not be able to give you a hearing until probably another two to three weeks.

Meanwhile, your suspension has already begun, therefore, your attorney is challenging a suspension that already began versus if you went into the attorney’s office earlier, and he filed the appropriate paperwork. The challenge to the suspension would have occurred weeks before the suspension began, and you would not be in a bind of not having a license. I would say that is the number one mistake people make in regards to DUIs.

For more information on Misconceptions About A DUI Arrest, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

Unless you are an expert in the area of criminal defense, and particularly in DUI law, you have no idea what is going on. You have no idea what a good ending to the case is, and you have no idea whether or not you have a very triable case. You have no idea what the process and procedure is. It is understood that nobody wants to go into lawyer’s office after getting a DUI. Nobody wants to have to deal with the stress of going to court, having to pay the money to the lawyer, and the courts. Just like when my car breaks down, I really do not want to pay the mechanic to do what he needs to do.

However, I do not have the expertise to deal with that, and God forbid I even try to fix the car; I would not want to have to drive it knowing that I am the one who fixed the car, because I would not have much confidence that what I did was the expert thing to do. Therefore, in regards to pleading guilty right off the bat, you have no idea what the result is going to be. You do not have an idea if the prosecutor is acting legitimately toward you, or if the judge is. You have nobody protecting your interest, which is important when dealing with any type of court case.

What Happens After Someone Is Pulled Over On Suspicion Of DUI?

If you are pulled over on a suspicion of a DUI, that officer has to have probable cause on stopping you. He has to observe you violating the law, or he believes that you are about to violate the law. He cannot pull you over just for the sake of pulling you over. He cannot pull you over based on racial profiling, or because he does not like a car that has fuzzy dice, or big wheels. He has to observe you violating the law, or he reasonably believes that you are about to violate the law. Generally, you have people who are getting pulled over for speeding tickets, or minor traffic violations, such as headlights, or taillights broken, and if the officer runs the plates of the vehicle, and it shows that the registered owner of the vehicle has a revoked license, and is a white male, that is probable cause.

The officer looks in and sees a white male driving the car that is grounds for the officer to legally pull you over, or it was involved in an accident. In that situation, he is not pulling you over at all. The vehicle has already stopped you are already involved in an accident he is investigating. Generally, what happens after that, the officer will smell an odor of alcohol on your breath, slurred speech, he will ask you questions, and you might not be answering them correctly, or the way that you answer the questions suggests to the officer that you might be intoxicated. He will ask if you have been drinking.

In the state of Illinois, like every state in this county, it is illegal to drink and drive. There is not one state in a country, or territory in the country, which says you cannot drink and drive. The law said you could not be under the influence, and drive. I am allowed to go out with my wife, have a glass of wine, and come home. If the officer pulled me over for speeding, he would smell alcohol on my breath and I could tell him I had one drink, and there will be nothing inherently wrong with that. The problem is when you have had substantially more than one glass of alcohol, and you go over the limit, which in the state of Illinois if you blow into the machine, submit to a chemical test is 0.08%. If you have any legal drugs in your system, the law states that you can be charged with a DUI, whether you blow into the machine or not based on what the officer sees.

If you are driving all over the road, and you did terrible on the field sobriety tests, you just told him you have been drinking, whether you submit to a chemical test or not, you are going to get arrested for a DUI. At that point, in time, the officer will make a determination based on what he has observed with the driving, the odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech to get you out of the vehicle. He will ask you to perform field sobriety tests those are recorded. However, the law does not mandate that the officer record those, but most police departments, that I deal with have smart car video machines not only to obtain the evidence, but also for their own protection in case they get accused of crime, or accused of malfeasance during a traffic arrest or a traffic offense.

Depending on how you do with the field sobriety tests, the officer will then have you blow into a PBT. At that point, if you blow into the machine, and blow above a 0.08%, taking that into consideration with how you did in the field sobriety tests, along with what he observed when he spoke to you, he will make a determination on whether or not to arrest you for DUI. If you blow above the legal limit, blowing into the portable breath test machine, it is guaranteed regardless of how you did on the field sobriety tests that he is going to arrest you for a DUI.

For more information on Pleading Guilty To A DUI, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

As mentioned to you before, no, your license is not confiscated. Forty-six days after the date of the arrest, you are eligible. If your attorney cannot get your suspension thrown out as we talked about earlier after filing the appropriate paperwork to challenge the validity of that suspension, your license becomes invalid, or suspended on day forty-six. You are eligible as a first time offender to have the BAIT device, the breathalyzer machine attached to the ignition of your car, and then you can drive for the entire timeframe of that suspension, as long as you are driving the vehicle that has the machine installed. If they have issued you a machine, and you have been authorized to put the machine in your car, and drive during the period of that suspension, and you are caught driving another vehicle you are looking at a mandatory class IV felony.

That can turn a bad situation into something a worse, because not only are you looking at a felony conviction, but also if guilty, then you are looking at jail time. In addition, they are going to revoke, or cancel that permit that you had when you did not have the machine in your vehicle. You are going to double the suspension from previous charges. Six months now turns into one year, and you do not have a permit, or a machine. One year turns into two years. It is something they are trying to hammer home, that if we are going to give you the ability to drive the entire time of that suspension, you must drive the car that has the machine, and if you get caught driving without it, then the sanctions are severe.

What Happens If Someone Refuses A Chemical Test In Illinois?

If someone refuses a chemical test, it all depends whether you are first time offender. In the civil part of the case, they only go back five years, in the criminal part of the case, the part that says you can go to jail, if you had an earlier DUI supervision, you cannot get one again. They go back to the day you were born. So the criminal part, can go back hundred years; civil part, they go back five. In a civil part, if you refuse to blow into the machine within five years, it is a three-year suspension. If it is within five years of the first DUI, and if you refuse, it is a three-year suspension, and that is for a second time, first time, or as we talked about before, it is a six-month suspension. If you blow, and you are a first time offender, which means you have had no DUIs within five years, it is a six-month suspension. If you refuse, it is one-year.

What Is The Ignition Interlock Device?

You are only required to have an ignition interlock device if in fact you have an active suspension, or a DUI suspension. Therefore, if you do not have a suspension against you during a period of a DUI case, and your attorney files the appropriate paperwork, the suspension is thrown out. The civil part of the case has now ceased to exist, but you still have the criminal DUI case pending, and you are not required to have a machine in your vehicle, because you have no suspension. Nevertheless, if you have the suspension that is DUI related, you are required to have the machine in your vehicle, and drive that vehicle.

What Factors Can Enhance Or Aggravate A DUI Charge?

Sheer numbers of DUIs and severity of a pending DUI can enhance your charges. So, even though it is a first time DUI, if God forbid you seriously hurt, or kill somebody, and then all of a sudden, it is going to turn from a regular class A misdemeanor up to a severe felony type case, and clearly second, third, fourth, or fifth DUIs. Every DUI you get increases a DUI under Illinois law, a third DUI, or above is considered an aggravating DUI. And aggravating means a felony DUI.

What Are The Potential Penalties For A DUI Conviction In Illinois?

The penalties could be all over the place, but you do not serve jail time for your first or second DUI, because there are public service options for those. However, you are looking at jail time even though the law says you get public service on a third DUI, anything above that, you are looking at some amount of jail, if not penitentiary time. Depending on how many DUIs you have, your second DUI, you are looking at your license being revoked, or permanently taken away. You have to do a hearing in front of the secretary of state, and the amount of alcohol schooling you are going to have to attend goes up proportionately based on every DUI you have obtained. Those are generally the penalties for the different number of DUIs that one might have.

Are There Any Alternative Programs Available For First Time DUI Offenders?

None of those is applicable for alternative programs other than possibly of public service or community service, and the interlock device for first time DUI. You are not going to have to go to jail in the state of Illinois, in particular, Lake County, Illinois. That is not going to happen to you for first time DUI. You will not be placed on home detention for a first time DUI. The only time you are ever going to have to do community service as a first time DUI is if you submit to a chemical test, blow into the machine, submit to a blood test, and your alcohol concentration is above a 0.16%. The Illinois state statute mandates that you do one-hundred hours of community service.

Community service is defined as working for a non-profit organization. You cannot be paid for it; it will be equivalent for working at a soup kitchen. It could be working at a shelter for animals, or it could be working at your park, but as long as you are not being paid, and it is a non-profit organization, you are good to go.

What Sets Your Firm Apart In Handling DUI Cases?

I have been doing this now for twenty-nine years. I was a state attorney, and I prosecuted thousands of DUI cases. Everything from first time DUIs up to the most severe type of DUIs, which are reckless homicides, DUIs where people were killed, or people having their fifth, sixth, or even seventh DUI. Like I said, I prosecuted those cases for many years. Now, for the last twenty-four years, I now defend the same cases I used to prosecute, and I have defended thousands of cases, both first time DUIs all the way up to the most severe type.

In addition to that, I do a lot of work in front of the Illinois secretary of state, and I have done thousands of hearings in front of the secretary of state trying to get people whose license were revoked, because of earlier, and multiple DUIs. What sets me apart is the number of years I was doing this, and the fact that I was on both sides of the equation, prosecuting, and defending these cases. My understanding of what the ramifications are for these drivers will help their cases.

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The biggest mistakes people make after a DUI, is they talk too much. Whether you are arrested for a DUI, or any type of criminal charge, the process begins against you in the criminal justice system. You want to limit any type of information that you give, whether it be to the police, or to any other witnesses. Once arrested, the police feel that they have sufficient amount of evidence, and you have no control over the information that they receive prior to the arrest. Once the arrest takes place, if you can keep silent, then at least we will not have any incriminating evidence from any comments you made to law enforcement during your arrest. This can further the state’s case if the case goes to court, if you talk to them prior.

Why Is It Not Advisable To Plead Guilty To A First Offense DUI?

There are multiple options in every single case not to plead guilty in a DIU. Some of the options or some of the remedies might be incredibly favorable to you, and some can be extremely bad. For example, in the state of Illinois, on a first time DUI, the law says it is punishable by up to a year in county jail, with a $2500 fine and additional court costs. In addition to that, you would have your license revoked, which would mean a permanent revocation, or permanent taking away of your driving privileges. That is one extreme, the other extreme is more lenient. It would be what they call court supervision which is a non-conviction. It does not go on your record, you do not serve jail time, and you do not have high fines, you do not lose your driving privileges because of that charge.

You can go into court and plead guilty without having any understandings of what the law is without looking at the evidence placed against you, and without consulting with anyone who is an expert in the field of criminal defense. You are at the whim of the judge, and or prosecuting attorney, which is usually not a favorable outcome.

What Are The Driver’s License Consequences Associated With A DUI Arrest?

In the state of Illinois, upon arrest for DUI, there are no immediate consequences concerning your driving privileges. The law says that when you are arrested for DUI, you are brought to the station after the arrest. They ask you to submit to a chemical test, whether it is a breath test, or they take you to a hospital for a blood test. If you refuse to blow into the machine, submit to a chemical test, or you do submit to a chemical test, and it is above a 0.08% alcohol concentration, then once again nothing happens directly, but after forty-six days that have passed from the date of your arrest, your license would become suspended.

In the state of Illinois, if you submit to a test, and you are a first time DUI offender, your license would be suspended for six months. If you refuse to blow, or refuse to submit to a chemical test at a hospital, it is a one-year suspension. Once again, nothing happens immediately. What you decide to do on the date of your arrest, remember there will be ramifications after the forty-sixth day after the date of the initial arrest.

What Happens If I Refuse A Breath Or A Blood Test?

If you refuse a breath test with a first time DUI, your license is suspended for one year. If you submit to a test regardless of what the results are, it is a six-month suspension. If you are what they call a repeat offender, meaning you received a DUI within the last five years of the last DUI, and you submit to a test, it is a one-year suspension. If you refuse, it is a three-year suspension of driving privileges. Therefore, there is a big difference between a first time offender, and a repeat offender.

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The penalties for a first, and second DUI, short of any aggravating factors, like injuries, or a fatality, is up to a year in county jail, and is considered a class misdemeanor, including fines, around $2500, plus court costs. If you pick up a third violation with a DUI, in the statute in Illinois, it does not matter how old the DUIs were. You could have a DUI today, another DUI fifteen years ago, or even more, prior to that. Any third violation can be charged as a felony offense in this state, and that is a Class 2 felony. This is punishable by up to seven years in a penitentiary, but is a probation-able charge.

You are also looking at the real possibility of your license being revoked, if the issue is you received a second DUI, or including your second DUI. A revocation in the state of Illinois means a lifetime ban on driving privileges, unless you have a hearing in front of the secretary of state, or the Department of Motor Vehicles, to try to get an occupational permit back. The big penalties are weather it was a felony or not, and was jail time involved, and what was status of your driving privileges at that time.

Are There Any Diversion Programs Available To First Time DUI Offenders?

They have community service, or the ignition interlock programs available. In Illinois, this is called court supervision, and that is for first time DUI offender’s only. That is a non-conviction. It does not go on your record as a conviction. If you get court supervision, you can morally, ethically, and legally state that you have no convictions for DUI, and you would be telling the truth. Supervision entails that you have to pay fines, and court costs, and that you are going to agree to blood and alcohol evaluations, and complete whatever required treatment law enforcement asks you to do.

You have to stay out of trouble, and generally, they offer you a program, called the Victim Impact Panel. This is essentially a two hour scared straight type seminar. It is taught at Lake County Illinois Community College, and after one year successfully completion of all the requirements, the charges are technically and legally dismissed. That is available for first time DUI offenders only. In regards to any type of ignition interlock, as I mentioned before, this person can get supervision for the criminal part of the case, but there is another part of the case, which is called the civil part. It is two-headed monster, the civil part of the case deals with suspension, whether you submitted to the chemical test, or not. First time DUI offenders, if they submit, it is a six-month suspension; it starts forty-six days after the date of their arrest.

If they refuse, it is a one-year suspension, but you will have a six-month suspension, because either you submitted, or you refused. You are able to get an interlock device; they call it a day device. A breath detector is attached to the ignition of your car. Even though you are suspended for those six months, or one year, you can still drive for whatever reasons that you need to, as long as you have the machine in your vehicle. The machine does determine if you have any alcohol in your system.

If there is alcohol in your system, it will not let the car start. It also notifies the appropriate authorities who are monitoring that interlock device too. There can be additional sanctions charged against you, if you do not have a machine in your vehicle. You cannot drive at all for whatever reason, because you violated the terms, and conditions of the machine itself.

For more information on Penalties For A DUI In Illinois, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

Two issues determine if a drug charge is either a misdemeanor, or felony. The weight of the drugs and the intentions of the individual, if the person are intending to possess them for his own use that is always going to be a much lighter sentence and crime. If the person has the same amount of drugs, whether it is cannabis, or intends to distribute it, it is always going to be a severe penalty, or crime. The general rule is that whatever the classification is for possession only, if you have that same amount of weight with possession with intent to deliver, or the actual delivery of it is one level up. Possession is one thing, and possession with intent, would be one level above that.

Those are the two things that make the determination if it is a misdemeanor, a felony. The severity of the case comes into play with how much the drugs weigh. The question is the intention of the individual when he was caught with possession.

What Are The Penalties Associated With Possession and Possession With Intent To Distribute Charges?

The majority of people are not distributing, or possessing drugs, with intent to deliver drugs, they are charged with possession. In the state of Illinois, the most common possession charge at least for illegal controlled substances, such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and less than 15 grams of the substance containing cocaine or heroin, is called a Class 4 felony. Under Illinois law, this is punishable by up to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, or prison. However, the law does have a special provision for first time offenders called 4 10 probation.

A 4 10 is probation in Illinois, for first time offenders of a Class 4 felony. Any other drug felonies that fall under a 4 10 probation, and less than 15 grams of cocaine, then the intent can be shown you were just planning on using it for yourself. You were not dealing, so you are eligible for this 4 10 probation. This 4 10 probation actually means that for two years, if you stay out of trouble, do drug, and alcohol counseling, a minimal amount of public service, pay minimal fines, then the law states that after two years the charges are dismissed. In the state of Illinois, the minimal fine is $500 with court costs.

It is the same if you stay out of trouble for two years, do minimal amount of programs, and then the felony charge is dismissed. As it relates to third offenses, it is an open-ended type of question from this perspective. The more drug offenses you have, the more severe the penalty is going to be if the prosecution can prove the case. As I mentioned before, that delivery, or intent to deliver is a much stiffer penalty. The law says under some circumstances, if you have had a couple of severe type felony charges, then you are not even eligible for probation, which means you must go to prison.

Many times, you will have a charge in and of itself. If you have never been arrested for that charge, it is a probation-able charge. If you are guilty, you get probation, no jail, but if you have a couple of those in your criminal record, then it makes this particular charge non-probation-able, even though you had none in the past, it is probation-able. In the state of Illinois you cannot go to prison for any less than one year, and it goes from one year to a lifetime sentence for serious crimes other than what they call a calculated drug conspiracy. There are no drug charges that have a lifetime sentence in Illinois.

Even with a drug conspiracy, it is not lifetime. It is not like a murder charge, where you may get life without the possibility of parole. Your history is taken into consideration in terms of what the overall sentence is going to be.

Are Any Diversion Programs Available For Drug Offenders In Illinois?

I strongly believe in diversion programs, because for a first time offender, possibly even a second time individual, there is an alternative to having a criminal conviction on record. We want to give somebody who makes a “mistake” that this particular event does not affect his or her lives forever. In today’s society, having a criminal conviction, let alone a felony conviction on your record, is a damning prospect.

Every place you apply for a job, school, they do a records check, even if you apply for a loan, any type of security clearances, they will check on you. You would hate to have a situation when you were younger, affects you later on in life. As I mentioned, supervision, or this type of 410 probation keeps your record spotless after one or two years, as long as you successfully complete the programs I think are good, but it all comes down to the person making a mistake once possibly, two times.

Once, we had a situation where someone had been arrested for the same thing several times. There was history there, and the court looks, as this is a pattern of a criminal lifestyle, and not a mistake. If a person is motivated, and they feel like they screwed up and they never want to be in this position again, then these special probations, these alternative sentences are an excellent remedy. Illinois has expanded these alternative or second based probations to include different types of theft charges nowadays.

Under the Illinois compiled statutes, which are the Illinois criminal law, there is a special section, which deals with all the different types of offenses, if the person stays out of trouble, and completes these special types of probation, and then their record is wiped clean.

For more information on Misdemeanor And Felony Drug Charges, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

We handle all types of theft cases. There are three types. There is what we call a local ordinance violation, which is a violation against the local municipality. So that would be, for argument’s sake, a violation against the city of Chicago. That is not considered a criminal offense, that is more what we call a civil offense, but you have to go to court for that. There is what we call a local ordinance, or OV is what they call it around here, this is the people of the city of Chicago versus you. Then we have criminal charges here in the state of Illinois, which is misdemeanor, and felony offenses. What distinguishes the two is always going to be the dollar amount we are dealing with.

In the state of Illinois, if I am stealing less than $300 from someone, or from an entity short of it being a retail theft, it is a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in the county jail. Once you are above $300, then it turns into a felony offense, or higher. Therefore, between $300 and $10,000 is one felony offense, between $10,000 and $100,000 is another, over $100,000 is the higher penalties, and fines. If they feel that you inappropriately acquired possession whether it is money, or property, it is all based on the dollar value.

What Are The Alternative Programs Available To Theft Offenders In Illinois?

Under the Illinois compiled statutes, the alternative programs are called ILCS. So under section 730 ILCS 5/5-6-3.4, it is called second chance probation. That is specifically designed for people with low end theft charges. If you are found guilty of a low-end theft charge, the law says you are eligible for this second type of probation, even if it is a felony charge. If it is a misdemeanor charge, which is less than $300, then you are eligible for that court supervision as I mentioned to you before in the DUI arena. Usually it is a twelve-month period, and you must stay out of trouble, make restitution to the people who you stole from, maybe do a minimal amount of public service, and then your record is wiped clean.

The supervision and the second chance probation for low-end felonies are identical. What they mean is that the successful completion of whatever the term is that you are on, court jurisdiction, you do what you are supposed to do, and then the charges are dismissed.

What Are The Major And Collateral Consequences Of Having A Theft Conviction On Record?

First, a theft conviction on your record is a conviction, no matter the crime. In todays’ society, you are perceived as a criminal. If it is a misdemeanor then it is a misdemeanor conviction, if it is a felony, well then you are a convicted felon. That in and of itself will never be advantageous to you, especially when you are applying for schools, employment, and financial status. In a perfect world, if I am an employer to all things being equal, and I had two prospects, most people will not hire someone with a criminal past.

Let us take it one-step further, what if someone sees that this is a theft conviction, a criminal conviction at that, and a felony? Therefore, if I was hesitant to hire this person because they had a pot conviction, or a DUI conviction, how am I going to feel when I find out that this person is a convicted felon, and they are working for me? Do I have to worry about this person stealing from me? Stealing from my clients? Stealing from my customers? Short of a sex offense, it is about as damning as a conviction as you can have on your record, when trying to get your life back on track.

It scares many people, because this person was proven to be someone who lacks honesty, who lacks veracity, so the question is, do I want that person to work for me? It is something that you have to take in to consideration when you are defending someone, not only in terms of trying to take care of this case today, how am I going to take care of this today? How will it affect me down the road? Everyone does a record check, and they will find out if you have a criminal past. As a defense attorney, you need to be very aware of future ramifications on a plea of guilty, or these convictions for your clients, because this can affect them in the future.

Is There Any Way To Have A Theft Conviction Removed From Your Record In Illinois?

Yes, you do have the ability to have a theft conviction removed from your record in the state of Illinois. It all depends on what your overall record is, if you have a clean record, but only a minor theft conviction, it can be removed. If you are under theft supervision, which is a non-conviction, it means the charges have been dismissed you can have this expunged. Some convictions can actually be sealed. So yes, there are antidotes depending on the severity of the case. It will still be there, but no one can see it.

They say nobody can see this record, but the Federal Government can if you are applying for federal employment. For example, a top-secret security clearance position, or TSA, but there are ways to seal these records, and there are ways to expunge some of them, which means take them off your record completely as if they never happened. Generally, that is for low-end type of cases. Higher levels of cases, this will not happen.

For more information on Theft Cases In Illinois, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

We handle all types of sex crime cases in our firm. They are broken into misdemeanor and felony offenses. A general distinguishing feature between the two and once again, this is a generality, is the nature of the contact. If it is contact only, with no penetration, or whether it be penetration with any part of your body, then generally speaking, those are misdemeanor offenses. As soon as we have any type of penetration, we are now dealing with something quite a bit different. That would be a felony offense, and the more severe the penetration, or the number of times that it occurred, the age of the victim, or the mental capacity of the victim are aggravating factors of how severe a felony, or sex offense this would be.

Should I Contact An Attorney Before I Am Arrested If I Suspect I Am Being Investigated For A Sex Crime?

Yes, you should contact an attorney before any arrest, absolutely. It does not necessarily have to do with a sex offense. If you think that you are the focus of an investigation, I think it is vitally important to contact an attorney. If you think you are being investigated for any crime, do not hesitate in calling an attorney. You do not know what is going on, or possibly know what the ramifications will be. Therefore, it makes sense for you to reach out to a qualified attorney, sit down with him or her, and go over what you believe is happening.

There is the confidentiality between you and your attorney; it is the attorney client privilege. You have to rest assured that whatever you tell them, it is going to stay between the both of you. You will have an idea of where they are coming from as to what possible crimes can be proven. More importantly, you can talk to your attorney about what do I do now, as I am waiting for the possibility of charges filed against me. Once again, silence is golden. You need to keep your mouth shut. You need to limit the amount of evidence that the prosecution could or should have.

There is nothing you can do about witnesses, and there is nothing you can do about what people have already said. The police have a right to investigate any possible crime. They are going to reach out to everybody who falls into that investigation, but it also means they are going to reach out to you. It is bad enough when people say you did something, but when you say you did it, that is damning evidence right there, that is a confession. Those are very difficult to overcome, and that is why it is so important for the police to try to make somebody confess, because it is the most damning of the evidence and, if they have it on paper, audio, or videotape, it is going to be very difficult for you to modify that statement. Especially, if the case goes to trial and they have all this evidence.

Anything you say later on would be inconsistent, and they could impeach you on that if the case went to trial. Not all this information is known to a layperson, and that is why it is vitally important that if you believe you are the focus of an investigation, that you reach out to an attorney. The attorney can make calls to law enforcement agencies, the DA, or the state attorney’s office, and find out if there is an investigation, then he or she can instruct you on what the proper way of dealing with this until, and if charges are filed.

What Should Someone Do If They Are Arrested For A Sex Crime?

Once again, the thing is to keep your mouth shut, and stay quiet on any arrest. You are going to be pleased if you are not in custody. They are going to release you on bond, and they are going to have conditions of bonds, such as no contact with the alleged victim, and no contact with kids under the age of eighteen depending on what the allegations are. They might give you a curfew, and depending on the charges, the knowledge your attorney has, and his or her relationship with the DA, or the state attorney’s office, your defense attorney might say he listened.

It might be a good time for you to get into some sort of counseling now. We can use this for mitigation purposes when I am dealing with the state’s attorney’s office later on. Once again, depending on the facts of the case, your defense attorney will be privy to everything the prosecution plans to use to try, and obtain a conviction against your client. I have been practicing law for twenty-nine years now. I can look at a police report, and over a very short period, I can make a determination as to whether the state has a legitimate case, and whether I feel the state is in line to prove my person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the state has a strong case, then we need to gather as much mitigating evidence as possible. Mitigating means information, or evidence, which would tend to show why the prosecution, or more importantly, why the judge did not come down heavy against my person such as, “Your honor, my client got into counseling and he has been diligent in doing so. We have a letter from his therapist, and a letter from the treatment facilitator showing that he has been involved in sex offender counseling, or anger control counseling, and he is doing great.”

Information like this helps our case down the road. On the other hand, if the state does not have a strong case against my person, and I do not believe the state can prove my person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, well then, there is not nearly the necessity that we get him or her involved in this counseling beforehand. If the state ultimately does not give us what we want, at least we know that we have a strong case. If we take the case to trial, it is going to be difficult for the state to overcome their burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.

For more information on Sex Offenses In Illinois, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

You have situations like that where you have hard graphic evidence, and then along with a confession and a multitude of eyewitnesses, sometimes it is a hopeless case, and the vast majority of prosecutors you ask out there have very little compassion for sex offenders. If we have a situation where with today everybody having a smartphone, and able to record information online with social media, sometimes the biggest detriment to my client is not only the fact that my client was engaged in this type of activity, but then he decided to post it online, or save it on his phone.

They have a lot more compassion for other types of criminalities, but when it comes to sex offenders in particular, people who abuse young children, there is little to no compassion at all. To answer your question, in situations like that, what type of defense strategies do we have? Sometimes you do not have a defense strategy. Sometimes the evidence is so overwhelming on your client, that you are essentially in a siege mentality at that point in time. You have to find some sort of mitigation, and try to minimize the overall damage against our client. Now, that is an extreme. I have handled many cases where my clients say this did not happen.

There are situations I have dealt with in the past relating to child custody. A husband and wife go for custody, and all of a sudden, and an allegation is made. Usually, it is from the wife, although it can come from the husband, or a stepfather is sexually abusing the kids, and my client comes to me and says this is nonsense. This is all a ploy, because we are in a custody dispute now, and because she wants money from me. In situations like that, understand that the main strategy that you are going to use is what does the state have? Can the state prove your client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Is there an alibi? Was your client not there? Is there any motive for the other person to lie?

In situations like that, it is going to be her word versus yours. There is not going to be any independent information, or evidence. There is not going to be a video, and there is not going to be any type of witnesses who can corroborate, or backup the allegations that you sexually molested, or assaulted a child, or for that matter anyone else. It is your word versus theirs. Is there a motive behind that? If there is a custody dispute, it is a motive for one party to lie about the other. If it is a monetary dispute, there is a motive for the other person to make up this type of information. Everything depends on the facts in the case, and the circumstances around the allegations itself. There is not one size fits all type of defenses.

What Are The Long Term Collateral Consequences Of A Sex Crime Conviction?

There are a bunch of poor possibilities, and bad endings to being convicted of a sex offense. Right off the bat, you are now labelled as a sex offender. In addition, depending on the severity of the case, you are going to county jail for up to a year or the penitentiary for several years. Sometimes they will not call it a life sentence, because there is no life sentence for a sex offense, but you can possibly do hundreds of years, I mean, anyway you look at it that is a life sentence. That is all dependent on how many individual sex acts have occurred.

If you have one sex act, which is punishable by up to thirty years in prison, and if you perform the same act a hundred times, you could conceivably get thousands of years in the penitentiary. Each offense is a second offense, or a second penalty, and they run consecutively. They do not merge them all together. So, if you are sentenced to eight years for four offenses that is thirty-two years. They do not merge it all into one concurrent consecutive year. The biggest issue is, am I going to prison, or am I going to jail? The second issue is whether it will be a misdemeanor, or will it be a felony charge? If it is a felony charge, than you must register as a sex offender, in your local jurisdiction. For some offenses, you have to register for ten years.

For other offenses, those of course being the more serious ones, it is a lifetime registration. Once again, you do something when you are younger, you might go to jail for six months or two years, you might not even go to jail at all, but if you are required to register as a sex offender for years, or lifetime, everybody knows about it. Your employers are going to know about that, because it is going to show up on a background check. They will see that you have that sex offense conviction. This is what we are dealing with. We are dealing with incarceration, and with registering as a sex offender. With incarceration, there are some offenses where you have to serve the vast majority of the crime that you are sent to prison for.

Under Illinois law, the general rule is that if you go on a general felony type of case, you receive day-to-day credit, which means you get two years in prison, you are out in a year, but there are certain sex offenses where you must serve eighty-five percent of the sentence. If you are sentenced to one year, or better, yet you are sentenced to ten years, you have to serve eight and a half years, you do not serve five years, or fifty percent, or day for day. There are many bad possibilities when you are dealing with a sex offense crime.

The Benefits Of Hiring An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney To Handle A Criminal Case

The benefit is you want to hire a highly qualified criminal defense attorney, who has experience in the local jurisdictions where the case is tried. You could have the best attorney in the world, but if he is from another jurisdiction, and does not know the judges, or the prosecutors, and procedures, that is not nearly as effective. When you come into my office, it does not matter if you are coming in for a DUI charge, a sex offense, or a drug offense, I have three options for your case.

The first option is to see whether I can work it out with the prosecutor. If I do not like the position the prosecutor is taking, the second option is to go directly to the judge, and see what a judge will give us that the prosecutor will not. The third option is that if I feel that the state cannot prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, then I can say forget you prosecutor, forget you judge. The third option is I want a trial. If I want a trial, I can elect to have it by either a judge, or a jury. The judge makes his decision beyond a reasonable doubt, or the jury makes their decision beyond a reasonable doubt.

As you can see, those are the three general options I have available. You want an attorney who knows the prosecutor. That is option, because he knows which prosecutor to go to, he knows what the prosecutor will offer, and they have a rapport with each other. Another option is going to the judge. He knows the judge. He has been in front of the judge for many years, and he knows what the judge will give on certain cases, and what the judge will not give. He has built up a rapport with the judge. The third option, once again, if you want to do a trial in front of a judge, once again you have that relationship with the judge. It is only when you are doing a trial in front of a jury where those relationships mean nothing, because the trier of fact, that being twelve people, do not know whether you are from Waukegan, IL., which is my location, or whether you are from Nashville, TN., short of possibly the accent.

Those relationships you have built up are irrelevant at a jury trial. It is important to keep in mind that the vast majority of cases do not go to trial. For example, I would say that for every ten cases that a person is arrested, and prosecuted, well less than one percent of them ever go to trial, which means that ninety percent of them do not end up in trial. That is where the relationships come into play. The first thing I tell people is that yes, I would love to have their business, and I would love to take care of you, but if you are not going to hire me, make sure that you know somebody, or hire somebody who is very familiar with this location, and this type of criminal defense. Once again, it does you no good to have the best person in the world. It is not nearly as effective to have the most talented attorney in the world who knows nothing about this local jurisdiction.

For more information on Defense Strategies For Sex Offenses, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

DUI cases go to trial approximately 10 to 15% of the time.

Do Most DUI Attorneys Avoid Taking A DUI Case To Trial?

Attorneys always want to avoid going to trial if they can get the results you’re looking for some other way. Ultimately, if someone comes into my office soon after they were arrested for a DUI, and they have the basic documents that they’re going to need—the tickets, next court date documents, what type of bond they’re on, and then the sworn law enforcement report—this gives attorneys’ some basic ideas about why the police believed that the client was under the influence of alcohol when they were arrested. Many times, attorneys don’t have a good sense about a case until they get a copy of the entire discovery, and all the evidence, such as police reports, videos, and the officer’s statements. This occurs on the first, if not the second, court date that we show up in court for.

At that point in time, an attorney will know exactly what the evidence is against their client, and then they can talk to their client to figure out their version of the events, and how good or how bad the case is. Going into every single case, you have an objective that you’re looking for, which depends on the severity of the case, a person’s criminal background, or how many DUIs they’ve had in the past. An attorney will take this into consideration, along with the evidence the prosecutor would present in front of a judge or a jury. We try to figure out what our objective is going to be—the objective for a first time DUI individual is completely different than the objective for a third or fourth time DUI individual.

Attorneys always want to get the objective they’re looking for before going to trial, because if you go to trial and you lose, there can be significant ramifications. If an attorney was able to work it out with the prosecutor before the trial, and negotiate the case and achieve their objective, that’s a guarantee. Going to trial, there are no guarantees. You’re essentially rolling a dice.

What Factors Do You Consider When Determining Whether To Take A Case To Trial Or Not?

There are several factors that I consider when determining whether or not to take a case to trial. If the client has minimal criminal background, then I don’t have to worry about this being an issue at trial. If we have a very good fact pattern, I am looking for a dismissal of the charges. If I have a very poor fact pattern, I am looking for the best negotiation I can get.

But generally speaking, putting aside a person’s criminal or DUI background, I usually break a DUI into five separate areas, to determine whether or not the state has a good case. Ultimately the state has to prove my client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The five parts of the DUI that I look at is first, the driving itself. What type of, if any, bad driving led to my client being pulled over? The second thing I look at is visuals. When the officer approaches my client and asks him or her questions, he is looking at their eyes, he is smelling their breath, he is looking at whether or not they can follow orders or commands fluidly, whether they can walk once they are asked to get at the vehicle, whether they can walk in a proper fashion without whining on the vehicle for support or staggering.

The third area is whether or not my client made any type of statements whatsoever, any admissions such as “I’ve been drinking all night, I had a quarter Jack Daniels”, or whether my client was silent or for that matter said that “I only had a beer or two this entire night.” In Illinois, you are able and legally in a position to drink and drive. You can have a beer and go and drive. You’ll smell like alcohol, but it doesn’t mean you’re under the influence of alcohol. You cannot be under the influence of alcohol in Illinois, but it is legal to drink and then drive your automobile as long as you’re not under the influence. So the third thing I’m looking at is what type of statements, if any, my client made.

The fourth thing I then look at is how my client performed in a field sobriety test, because almost all the time prior to a person being placed under arrest, the officer is going to give an individual a Standardized Field Sobriety test. This is to see whether or not in the officer’s opinion my client should be placed under arrest. The last aspect or the fifth part of the DUI that I look at is whether or not an individual blows into the machine at the station. In Illinois, if you below above a 0.08, you are presumed to be under the influence of alcohol. If you blow between a 0.06 and a 0.08, there is no presumption whether you’re drunk or not, and blow under a 0.06, the presumption is you’re not under the influence of alcohol.

So I look at all five aspects and then, based on my experience and expertise, I make a decision of how good or how bad this case is for my client. Once I make that determination, I talk with my client and give him my advice. Then I reach out to the prosecutor to try and either negotiate this case, if that is what I feel is in the best interest of the client, or play hardball. Since the state must prove guilt without a shadow of doubt, we can tell the prosecutor that we’re open to an offer if I don’t think they can meet their burden of proof. We’re never going to say don’t give us an offer but, if it’s not a very good offer, based on the facts of the case, we then take a case like that to trial. A good defense attorney is not going to take a bad case to trial, and a good prosecutor is not going to take a bad case to trial either, from their perspective. So it’s usually the cases that are somewhere in the middle, that are a toss-up, those are the cases that usually go to trial especially if a person is a second or a third time DUI offender.

For more information on DUI Cases Going To Trial In Illinois, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (847) 623-2424 today.

Most people have a decent idea of what a DUI trial consists of. The biggest thing that I would say that clients have a misconception of is the facts on the night of the DUI. Let’s go in with the assumption that the majority of people who come into my office were drinking and were charged with DUI. Clients come on into my office and say, “I’ve never made a statement to the cop, I did great on the field sobriety tests, and I wasn’t staggering at all”. Nowadays, just about all the DUIs here in Lake County, Illinois are videotaped and have accompanying audio.

I not only see what’s happening the majority of times but I also hear what’s happening. With current technology, we’re dealing with high definition cameras, and accurate and sensitive microphones. I can’t tell you how many times people have told me that they did great on the field sobriety tests, and when we plug it into the big screen TV and take a look at the DVD, that turns out to not be the case. It does happen that a video will show that a client aced a field sobriety test, but that doesn’t happen often. But usually their recollection of the events of that night is a complete contrast to what I get from the evidence that’s provided for me.

It used to be, years ago, that there really weren’t any videos, so it was really the officer’s word versus my client’s word. But now, once you have the video and audio aspects of these cases, it pretty much gives you a neutral viewpoint. We’ve all heard that saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” When you’re dealing with a DUI, and how the client is doing on the field sobriety tests in particular, this is very true. More often than not you can conclusively get an opinion one way or another based on the officer asking you to do a series of field sobriety tests and what you observe. Clients watch enough TV to know that if they do a trial by judge, the judge decides whether he’s guilty or innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. If they do a trial by jury, the jury understands and they understand that the officer is going to come in and testify. If there is a video, the video is going to be shown, and they will have the opportunity to get on the stand if they elect to, and give their version of the events.

Can You Walk Me Through A Brief Timeline Of a DUI Trial In Illinois?

The first part of a DUI trial is opening statements, where the prosecutor’s going to get up there and tell the judge or jury all of the reasons why they believe that the evidence is going to show that my client is guilty. Then, I get up and I give all the reasons on why I feel the state will not meet their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and why my client was not under the influence of alcohol. Then after the opening statement, the evidence begins. Because the state has the burden, they present all their evidence first and more often than not, on a DUI case, you’re just going to see the arresting officer getting up there and testifying.

They are going to show the video of the stop, of the field sobriety tests, and the video in the booking room, after my client was placed under arrest. In the booking room, they’ll ask my client questions after they Mirandize him and tell him he has a right to remain silent, and they’re also going to ask him to blow into the Breathalyzer. If it’s the same officer who arrested him, and had him blow into the Breathalyzer, there’s certain paperwork that he needs to fill out and certain logbooks he needs to detail and fill out also.

He can testify as to what the breath test results are. After the officer testifies, the state closes their side of the trial, and I have the ability at that point in time to make a motion in front of the judge to dismiss the charges because the state has not reached their burden of proof. If the judge says that the state has met their burden, then the whole case shifts to my defense.

I then put my client on the stand, and he will testify as to what he was drinking earlier that night, if he was drinking at all. We talk about the fact that he wasn’t under the influence of alcohol at the time he got pulled over. We’ll explain away how we did on a field sobriety test, that my client has a bum knee from a high school football injury or that my client was working all night, and that’s why they didn’t do particularly well. If he elects not to testify, the fact could not be used against them in determining whether or not my client is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

After I have my client testify, I’m done with all my evidence. At that point in time, if there is no more evidence to be, each side gives closing statements. The prosecutor starts off and says all the reasons why they should believe my client is guilty based on the facts that were presented in front of them at the immediate proceeding. Next, I say all the reasons why the state has not met their burden. At the end is the Rebuttal, where the prosecutor has the last word because they have the burden of proof, and they can attack my closing statement and once again, reiterate why he believes that my person is guilty to the charge of DUI.

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In Lake County, officers never show up for any pre-trial. They are not required to be in court unless there is some sort of contested motion, such as a Motion to Suppress, or any other pretrial motion before the case goes to trial. There are various motions I can file to challenge the validity of the stop, or the validity of certain evidence, or of a suspension which might be imposed on my client as to whether or not they blew into the machine or not. They’re only required to show up for contested motions, pretrial motions, or trial. There are occasions where officers don’t show up for any of these.

The prosecutor will send out a subpoena for the officers to show up, and there could be various reasons why they might not, from them forgetting, to them being sick or on vacation, or even situations where they’re working a major crime at the time and they just cannot show up. If it’s a legitimate reason why they are not there, more often than not the judge will give them a continuance. In situations where the officer doesn’t show up and nobody has an idea why the officer isn’t there, which is more often than not, the judge will probably give them a continuance, because it is a DUI charge. But the judge will be a little bit more upset if the prosecutor can’t give the judge legitimate reason that why the officer is there. The vast majority of times, they do show up.

Is A Jury Trial Better Than A Bench Trial Or Vice Versa?

In Illinois, you have a choice to decide whether you want a trial by a judge or a trial by a jury. First, you have to look at who the judge is. There are certain judges who, because they are pre-disposed to look favorably towards the prosecution, might be the cases that you want to take the jury. Sometimes we can look at the possibility of getting rid of that judge, and going to another. If you are assigned a fair judge, and I feel that the state cannot prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, we will choose a bench trial because the judges understands what beyond a reasonable doubt means a whole lot better than the jury.

However, the opposite side of that is also true. If you feel that you don’t have a good case, for whatever reason, then you want to do a trial by a jury. I choose a trial by jury if I don’t think that we have a good case, because you have a much better opportunity of confusing or setting up a smoke screen with the jury because you are dealing with all different types of people. You can more easily push them to focus in on things that really aren’t that important than you would possibly do if you had a trial by a very experienced judge.

Is The Sentencing Worse Than The Plea Offer When Someone Is Convicted At A DUI Trial?

Yes, if convicted, the sentencing is usually worse than a plea offer. At a misdemeanor level, after 30 years both as a prosecutor, and also as a defense attorney, we don’t get penalized too much at sentencing time by going to trial. If it’s a misdemeanor case, the most a person can get is a year in the county jail and you’re entitled to day for day credit. Usually you’ll be out in 6 months, along with probation, and fines for court costs and drug and alcohol evaluation. If it’s a client’s first or second DUI with no aggravation, you will almost always get the same thing after trial you would have gotten beforehand.

The time you really get more severe sentence than what was originally offered after losing at trial is when your person has a lengthy record, a high number of DUI convictions, or a DUI involving bodily harm or significant property damage. In a situation like that, more often than not, that’ll be charged as a felony. But even if it isn’t originally charged as a felony, most likely at sentencing outcome is going to be more significant in terms of criminal liability than any offer that would have been made prior to trial.

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If your case goes to trial, you are looking at two different types of fees depending on what type of trial you choose. A trial by judge is going to be considerably cheaper than if we do a trial by a jury, because it takes a whole lot longer to pick a jury, or because every time there’s an objection, we have to walk up to the judge, and if the jury cannot hear it, for the judge to make some sort of decision.

Then you have jury instructions at the tail end of the case, which would make it take substantially longer. The case itself is identical. The evidence presented, including witnesses and video, is identical. It’s just that for a jury to hear a case takes substantially longer than for a judge and because of that, there is a larger cost. However, I have never been in a situation where a client said that they were going to accept a plea offer because they couldn’t afford a trial. If it came down to that, then I would figure out the financial portion for my client.

A lot of times though on the flipside, I recommend that we do a trial but my client decides to take the plea offer. In that situation, money is not the consideration. My client has other reasons why they are making that decision.

How Does Your Reputation, Style And Experience Impact A DUI Trial?

First of all, I would say that because I have been doing this for long time, clients know I am a straight shooter, and that I am not going to make up information. This makes clients feel very comfortable with me. Because I’ve been doing this for many years, the prosecution knows that if a case needs to go to trial, I will take the case to trial. I’ve been doing trials for many years, and I have done many different types of cases, both in front of judges and in front of juries. As a result of that, that I get very good offers from the prosecutors. They know I’m a straight shooter, they know I’ll take the case to trial. They know that I have the expertise and experience to where I can fairly and appropriately take a look at a case and figure out what it’s worth, figure out how good or how bad the case is.

Because of that, I am very effective in terms of my overall representation to my clients. If you have a good solid reputation, that is usually a recipe for a very good ending for your client. I am not talking about the most severe cases, where there are victims who have been severely hurt. With those cases, it doesn’t matter who you are. In those cases, the prosecutor has no choice but to offer a very stiff plea deal, including years in prison. on the other hand, they recognize that most likely you’re not going to take that deal, and you have no choice but to go to trial.

But those cases are few compared to the overall number of cases that I deal with, and my reputation certainly helps me negotiate with the prosecution to get my client the objective that we’re looking for.

What Are The Important Things That People Should Know When Deciding To Go To Trial Or Not?

The first thing you want to look at when deciding whether to go to trial is basically offer a fair offer from the prosecution, taking into consideration the facts of the case and the client’s prior criminal background. If it’s a fair offer, and the prosecution most likely can prove the case, then you accept the offer. If it’s not a fair offer, even if the prosecution can prove the case most of the time, then you’re going to trial because you can go to trial and lose and end up with an unfair result. If the prosecutor was going to offer that unfair result to you before the trial, you fall into that category of what do you really have to lose by going to trial?

I would say that that’s the facts of the case, and your criminal background, will determine the offer that the prosecution makes. If it’s fair based on all of that stuff, you have to strongly consider taking it. If not, you go to trial.

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There are two breathalyzer tests used in Illinois. One of them would usually be administered at the time that you’re pulled over. The officer is going to make observations of you and determine whether or not they feel you’re under the influence of alcohol. But before they make that determination and arrest you, they’re going to take into consideration the way that you were driving, as well as any other observations they’ve made, including bloodshot eyes, a strong odor of alcohol and slurred speech. They’re going to take into account your performance or lack thereof during the field sobriety tests (walk the line, raise one leg, touch your nose), and they’re also going to ask you to blow into what they call a Portable Breath Test (PBT) machine.

A PBT is a relatively accurate device that determines your blood alcohol concentration. However, it’s not accurate enough that the courts will admit it into evidence should the case go to trial. It will not be a factor in determining your guilt or innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. If you were to file a pre-trial motion, such as the motion to suppress evidence, then the courts will take the PBT into consideration when determining whether or not the officer acted appropriately. So, the PBT would be the first chemical test that might pop up during an overall criminal proceeding, but it is admissible only at a pretrial hearing to determine whether or not the officer exercised reasonableness and established probable cause to arrest the individual for DUI. As mentioned before, it’s not admissible if the case were to go to trial. If the case were to go to trial, only the breathalyzer test that is done at the station would be admitted into evidence. After they arrest you and bring you to the station, they can follow certain procedures and request that you blow into the machine.

They can then go one step further by asking you to submit to a blood test in order to determine whether or not there are drugs or alcohol in your system. The machine at the station would only analyze if you had alcohol in your system. However, a blood test could also determine whether or not you had any illegal drugs in your system.

Whether you’re blowing into the machine at the station or submitting to a blood test at the hospital, there are procedures that the police and/or medical technicians need to follow in order for the evidence to be admissible. In terms of taking the breathalyzer test at the station once you’ve already been arrested, the officer has to read you what they call a warrant to motorist.

A warrant to motorist tells you that he’s going to be asking you to submit to a chemical test, whether it is a breath test or a blood test. It also informs you of what’s going to happen if you refuse to blow into the machine, blow above the legal limit, or refuse the blood test at the hospital. The general rule in the state of Illinois is that if you refuse to blow into the machine on your first DUI, or refuse to submit to a blood test, then you’re looking at a one year suspension of your driving privileges. If you submit to a chemical test and you’re above the legal limit, then it’s a six months suspension of your driving privileges. Reading the warning to motorists is the first procedural requirement of the officer. Then, the officer has to observe you for a 20-minute period of time to make sure you have nothing in your mouth and that you’re not belching. If you belch, chew something, or put something in your mouth during that 20 minute observation period, then that could affect the integrity of the test.

It is also required that the person who has you blow into the machine is certified by the police department and the department of public health to administer these types of tests. The secretary of state is required to have the proper training and qualifications to operate the machine so that it produces reliable values. The last requirement is that the machine itself is accurately calibrated and certified pursuant to law. This means that it will be tested on a routine basis to ensure accuracy.

The requirements are quite a bit different if you’re taken to the hospital for a blood test. You could also be taken to the hospital for medical reasons associated with an accident or the consumption of alcohol. In that situation, they would call an EMT to take you directly to the hospital. Depending on who’s requesting the blood test (police department or medical personnel), there’s a different set of requirements in terms of whether or not the results would be admissible at trial.

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I cannot answer the question of how to defend clients against breath test results. As a defense attorney, I look at the procedure to ensure that the officer complied with all of the requirements before having the person blow into the machine. I will ensure that he conducted a 20-minute observation period and that he logged the appropriate information into the logbook. I will also look at whether or not the officer had the necessary certifications to administer the test at the time the test took place. Additionally, I will make sure that the machine complies with the requirements, and that it was certified at the time that the person blew into the machine.

In terms of what I can attack regarding the machine itself, I can’t answer that question because I don’t know. Let’s assume everything was carried out in compliance with the procedures and requirements, but you still want to attack the test results of the machine itself. In that case, you will need to hire an expert who knows the mechanical and technical workings of the machine itself. That expert can gain access to those records, and under some circumstances, they can attack the validity of the breath test result.

If, for whatever reason, we feel that a result is just not right or I’m in a situation where I need to fight a case regardless, then I will need to hire an expert to examine the machine itself. That expert might also be an expert in physiology so that they can determine blood alcohol absorption rates in the human body. If you compare blood alcohol absorption rates in the human body to what the registered reading was, and if the result just doesn’t make sense based on what the person said they had to drink over a certain period of time, then it might be concluded that there was something wrong with the machine.

How Does It Affect The Observation Process If Someone Vomits During Those 20 Minutes?

Officers are supposed to have constant observation of the individual for a 20-minute period of time. However, when I’m looking at videos of them in the police station, I often see that the officers have their heads down while they’re writing up tickets or reports. They’re not just sitting there staring in the person’s eyes for 20 minutes. It’s supposed to be constant observation, but I’ve never seen an officer just gaze into the eyes of the defendant for 20 minutes to make sure there is absolutely no belching, burping, or foreign object in the person’s mouth. From a court’s perspective, it’s sufficient that there’s nothing outwardly evident during that 20-minute period. Some of these videos have very good audio and video quality and allow you to clearly see the defendant’s mouth. It doesn’t mean that the person didn’t belch without opening up their mouth, but you can tell on some of the videos whether or not the person was doing something during this period of time.

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The breathalyzer machine itself is very easy to operate, as it essentially walks you through the process. However, you do have to be certified to operate the machine, which requires a certain number of training hours. The machine tells them when to have the defendant blow into the machine, and it tells them when the test is sufficient. I went over the procedure that must be followed, but I can’t really comment anything beyond that.

There are some environmental factors that could come into play. For example, if you have one of those machines in the middle of a distillery and you’re asking someone to blow into it, I am sure that there are some environmental factors that could come into play. But every time I see a breathalyzer machine, it’s in the bowels of a police department (usually in the booking room). So, I don’t know of any environmental or electromagnetic forms of interference. But once again, this is where the expert would come into play. An expert might know, for example, that if the machine is used within 150 feet of a power line, then it could be affected by electromagnetism and the validity of its readings could be disturbed.

The defense attorney can watch the procedure leading up to the point where the person blows into the machine, and they can make sure that everything was complied with up to that point. However, that is pretty much where the defense attorney’s expertise ends. The technical issues involving the machine itself need to be handled by experts. If an expert identified a factor that could have affected the validity of the readings, then the attorney could incorporate that information into a defense. If the case goes to trial, you could call the expert to testify as to the validity of the result and whether or not it could have been disturbed by an electrical issue, electromagnetic issue, or environmental issue. If you can create reasonable doubt based on that expert’s testimony, then you’ve done your job.

Additional Information About Breath Tests In DUI Cases

The general understanding is that if you blow into the machine and it shows a concentration above 0.08, then there’s a presumption that you’re under the influence of alcohol. If you blow into the machine and it shows a concentration between 0.06 and 0.08, then the results in and of themselves don’t support a presumption one way or the other. If you submit to the breath test and it shows a concentration of 0.06, then there is a presumption that you’re not under the influence of alcohol.

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One reason that you’d be taken to the hospital to submit to a blood test would be if the officer believes you’re under the influence of drugs (or a combination of drugs and alcohol). Once again, the breathalyzer machine at the station only determines the concentration of alcohol in a person’s system, not any type drug. If an officer’s observations lead him to believe that a person is under the influence of something other than alcohol, or if the person’s breathalyzer test reveals a super low concentration, then the officer’s suspicion would be that the individual is under the influence of a drug. An officer may base this suspicion on something the person says, such as “Yes, I smoked heroin a little bit earlier today,” or something that he found, such as a syringe. If this is the case, then the officer can read that person the warning to motorists and bring them to the station. If that person agrees to a blood test, then the officer will ask the hospital personnel (usually it’s a phlebotomist) to draw a sample of blood. The sample is then analyzed to determine alcohol concentration and the presence of any type of drug, whether it be legal or illegal.

Under some circumstances, an officer can absolutely force a person to give blood. For example, if a person is involved in an accident that killed somebody or caused a Type A injury, then the officer will read them the warning to motorists and secure a sample of blood with or without their consent. The officer can go through procedures to actually have the hospital personnel strap the person down and take blood from him.

Another reason that you’d be taken to the hospital is if you were involved in an accident and need medical help. In that type of situation, they’re certainly not going to take you to the police department and go through the whole process of reading you the warning to motorists. Instead, they’re going to take you directly to the hospital in order to minimize medical damage. Once you arrive at the hospital, an ER doctor is going to need to find out what’s going on with you. They will need to determine whether or nor you have drugs or some sort of medication in your system, because that information is pertinent in moving forward with possible medical treatments (operations, medication administration etc.). So from a medical point of view, the medical personnel will draw your blood to have it analyzed so that they know what is in your system. That is the second way that blood tests can come into play at a trial or at some sort of hearing.

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Blood test results in DUI cases are highly reliable. They’re a lot more reliable than breathalyzer tests. However, you can attack a blood test result through chain of custody. When blood is taken from a person, it has to be taken according to the proper medical procedures. There can be no cross contamination between blood samples, it must be stored in the proper location for the proper amount of time, and there has to be a record of which locations the sample was sent to and/or transferred. This information is required in order to establish chain of custody. There can’t be a period of time where we don’t know where the blood was; it has to be accounted for the entire time. So, while there are ways to attack blood test results, the blood tests themselves (when conducted properly) are much more accurate than breathalyzer tests.

Have You Handled Any Cases Where You Utilized Experts To Attack Breath Or Blood Test Results?

Yes, I’ve handled cases in which I utilized experts to attack breath or blood test results. I’ve done so both as a defense attorney and as a prosecuting attorney. There was a case that involved an accident in which a number of people were injured, and the defense attorney hired an expert to attack the validity of the machine itself. As a prosecutor, I hired an expert who essentially said that the machine had operated correctly.

As a defense attorney, I handled a case in which the breathalyzer reading was just slightly above a concentration of 0.08. Because of that, I hired an expert to go after the machine itself. With the help of that expert, we made the argument that anything affecting the machine could have caused a small variance sufficient to register a concentration just above the concentration of 0.08.

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