A little good news in a Chicago DUI

The other day, I was in court with a client charged with his second, I mean first DUI.  All charges were dismissed against him and he could not have been more pleased.

The reason I mistakenly said it was his second DUI is because he has a really common name.  For purposes of this post, let's say his name is Michael Jackson.  Do you have any idea how many Michael Jacksons there are in Chicago?  The sheer number of folks with the name Michael Jackson and a traffic offense, everything from speeding, to drag racing, from driving while revoked, to DUI will appear.  All of these Michael Jacksons have different birthdates and addresses and other physically distinguishing features.  Some of them have birthdates that are close in year or date and/or their physical characteristics are similar.

That is what happened to my client.  Last year he was charged with a DUI by disgraced Top Chicago DUI cop Joe Parker.  At the time my client was charged, he had a valid Illinois license but when the police ran his name an old DUI popped up in his name.  He was adamant that this was not him, but his nightmare had just begun.

He was arrested based on a warrant for the old DUI and charged with a new one.  He had to post thousands of dollars to be released because of the old DUI in his name, never mind he continued to protest that he had not ever been charged before.  His pleas fell on deaf ears.

Once I was retained, I was able to get the prosecutors to dismiss the old DUI charges against him, because although his name was "Michael Jackson" and the old DUI was also for a "Michael Jackson" they were not the same person.  You see back then, they did not necessarily fingerprint and photograph you when you were charged with a Chicago DUI.  

No sooner had we left court, I kid you not maybe a day later, the client called.  The Cook County Sheriffs had come to his job and arrested him for the new warrant issued to "Michael Jackson" for an old DUI arrest.  Even though my client had documents to prove that he was not that Michael Jackson, he was handcuffed and taken into custody again.  His family again paid a handsome amount of money to have him released.  This time I went before a different judge and the case for the old DUI was heard on the prisoner call at the Cook County Criminal courthouse.  I explained again that my client was not the Michael Jackson wanted for this old DUI.  I again drafted a separate order to be placed in the court file that my client was not the Michael Jackson charged with this old DUI.  Again, my client was given documents to carry so that law enforcement would not arrest him again on this old DUI charge.  Again the judge was kind enough to release the bond that my client's family had posted, since he was not that Michael Jackson.

Finally, just last week, the 2008 DUI charges were dismissed against my client.  I already told him, he should consider changing his name.