Chicago DUI lawyer says please don't drink before coming to court

This Chicago DUI lawyer is hard to shock but that changed last week.

A man had his DUI case called and walked up before the judge alone. He did not have a lawyer with him at the bench. I overheard the prosecutor say to the judge that he smelled alcohol. The judge then announced, in open court, that he smelled alcohol as well. Then the judge called his deputy and told the man he was going to have him take a PBT, Portable Breath Test for alcohol. Here's the interesting thing about PBT's, they aren't admissible in criminal cases against defendants in Illinois.

Unfortunately, I saw the man leave and I didn't see him come back into the court. My best guess is the PBT came back positive for alcohol. Assuming the gentleman didn't have a court order indicating zero tolerance for alcohol, he hadn't done anything illegal.

Here's a bit of free legal advice, never, ever come to court smelling of alcohol. It doesn't matter if you have a DUI case or not. Remember, judges are first human beings. No one thinks it's appropriate to come to court smelling like you just left the bar.