Chicago DUI lawyer says finally DUI law is showing common sense

One of the biggest problems with DUI law is it can scoop up the innocent. DUI is practically the only crime, with serious consequences, that does not require mens rea. Mens rea is a legal term that means the criminal intended to commit the crime. There was a plan or some knowledge that a crime would occur.

We all know that when someone is drunk, they aren't capable of thinking clearly or rationally in most instances. Most people drive drunk without the thought that they are putting themselves and others in harm's way. That's why most rational people who feel tired or perhaps like they have had too much to drink will not drive. What most people do is sleep it off in their car.

Unfortunately in many states, including Illinois, if you sleep it off in your car you can be charged with a DUI. That's right, all of those anti-DUI campaigns about drinking and driving weren't really clear. You cannot be in a car at all if you want to avoid a DUI arrest. That's exactly what happened to Travis Peterson of Dixon Illinois.

State of Wisconsin vs. Travis Peterson

Peterson was, in the eyes of the law, a frequenter on the Alpine Valley grounds, not a trespasser. And there is no suggestion, that as a frequenter on the evening in question, he was prohibited from drinking alcohol. Indeed, drinking alcohol to excess, while inadvisable and unhealthy, is not unlawful by itself. So, Peterson’s being drunk was lawful conduct. What Peterson did next is also not only lawful, but commendable. Knowing he was drunk, he decided to sleep it off rather than operate his vehicle. So, up to this point at least—where he was found sleeping in his car—he had not engaged in any conduct that would be the catalyst for a criminal design.

No. You still cannot sleep it off in your car. I think this ruling makes the point that it's time to put common sense back in DUI. Otherwise "commendable" people who are sleeping it off in their cars are damend if they do and damned if they don't. Is that what our state legislators intended?

(Congratulations to National College of DUI Defense Attorney Andrew Mishlove who represented Travis Peterson, sorry we aren't with you at Harvard right now)