Coming Soon? A Prohibition on Alcohol for Drunk Drivers

It looks like some folks think the cart is before the horse, instead of the other way around. I just learned that Idaho has gotten pretty creative in its attempts to curb DUI's. Instead of attacking the crime of DUI, state legislators considered a ban on buying or possessing, yes that means consuming, alcohol.

March 10, Boise, ID

A North Idaho lawmaker’s bid to ban repeat drunken drivers from drinking fell short Monday in a House committee, which killed the bill by one vote.

Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, developed the proposal to ban repeat drunken drivers from buying, consuming or possessing alcohol for anywhere from five years to life, depending on the offense, as a new way to target repeat drunken drivers.

Clark, who himself had a DUI in 1999, acknowledged that his bill didn’t address out-of-state residents, who wouldn’t have the special licenses and so still could drink in Idaho even if they were repeat DUI offenders; and that it was unclear how people with withheld judgments would be affected.

Representative Clark will be back and this Chicago DUI lawyer suspects news of this legislation will spread throughout the country with other states, including Illinois, looking to put forward similar legislation.

Understanding LiLo, part 2

Good thing LiLo keeps track of her paperwork. The warrant issued for her arrest was recalled today without Lindsay Lohan being present in court. Apparently the warrant was issued for failure to comply with her alcohol treatment classes/counseling, stemming from her DUI arrests.

Los Angeles, CA -
Despite a $50,000 warrant for her arrest and the cops being called to her house for a domestic disturbance, Lindsay Lohan was not in court today.

Lohan's attorney Shawn Chapman Holley was there on behalf of her client.
According to TMZ, the alcohol education program director told them that Lohan missed three days of class in 21 days. But Lohan's DUI attorney apparently showed proof of compliance.

I have seen this happen with clients I have defended against their DUI charges. In Illinois a warrant will be issued for failure to comply with all of the terms of the sentencing order, instead of just calling the defendant and asking them to produce proof that they are in compliance with their counseling/education. The authorities have both local mailing addresses and phone numbers for defendants who have to complete alcohol education programs. It sounds like the LA authorities just wanted to give LiLo a hard time. Good thing she had competent counsel and proof that she was in compliance with the sentencing order for her DUI.

If you're suspected of DUI and you don't pull over, you could get killed by the DUI Cops!

Well there has been talk in the past of Top DUI Cops needing to make their DUI arrest quotas, but this has gone too far.  Apparently, a man refused to pull over for a DUI roving patrol last night, the cops shot at him, he crashed and now he is dead.

March 15, Pittsburgh,PA-

A man who refused to pull over for a roving DUI patrol in the South Side last night died after police shot at him, and he crashed his SUV into a utility pole, authorities said.

Pittsburgh police have not identified the 32-year-old man. Authorities won't know if he was killed by gunfire or the subsequent crash until an autopsy is conducted by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner, said police spokeswoman Diane Richard.

Now I do not know about the law in Pennsylvania, but here in Illinois you do not shoot at a suspect unless he is shooting at you.  What a horrible, horrible exchange.

Understanding LILO

The penalties from a finding of guilt or a plea of guilty to a DUI are numerous and onerous. You can think it is all over and that you have complied with all of the terms and conditions but that does not mean a warrant may not later be issued for your arrest. As you may have heard, Lindsay Lohan has a warrant issued for her arrest in connection with her DUI (she had two of them back in 2007).

March 14, Los Angeles -

Actress Lindsay Lohan has been asked to surrender to authorities after Beverly Hills Superior Court issued a warrant for her arrest Friday.

The warrant stems from a DUI and hit-and-run incident in May 2007, according to Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen.

On Aug. 23, 2007, Lohan pleaded no contest to drunk driving charges while admitting to using cocaine in two separate incidents. She was placed on probation for three years and was ordered to serve 10 days of community service. She was also ordered to spend at least 30 days in a drug rehabilitation program and complete an 18-month alcohol education program.

Beverly Hills police said they are not actively looking for Lohan and the actresses[sic] attorney said she hopes to resolve the situation without her client being forced to surrender.

She is getting the VIP treatment, because while the Beverly Hills police were not actively looking for her, she was not able to lay low until her attorney could straighten out the alleged erroneous warrant for Ms. Lohan's arrest. On Friday afternoon, police were called to her home.

It appears Ms. Lohan was there... no arrest was made despite the active warrant . I don't believe the police would have left without her, except for the VIP treatment.

Top of the Morning to You, Avoid a DUI arrest this St. Patrick's Day Weekend

I received an email from a friend of mine highlighting this message from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).
March 12- Springfield, Illinois
"The Illinois State Police and local law enforcement will remain vigilant in their enforcement efforts over the St. Patrick's Day weekend," said ISP Director Larry G. Trent. "Individuals who drive while impaired will be arrested. If you are going to include alcohol in your celebration plans, designate a sober driver. Motorists are also reminded to buckle-up and to obey the move-over law (Scott's Law) to ensure a safe holiday weekend."

Beginning today and continuing around St. Patrick’s Day, IDOT is making available over $500,000 in federal highway safety dollars to fund additional roadside safety checks, saturation patrols and other impaired driving countermeasures. This stepped-up effort will be accompanied by strong local educational efforts, encouraging the use of designated drivers, but also reminding motorists of the risk of arrest if they drive impaired.

Let's be clear, I believe there will be zero tolerance for alcohol at these roadside safety checks and and saturation patrols. If the officer stops your car and you or your passengers smell of alcohol or perhaps the little green drug, you will be arrested and charged with DUI. Remember, you can also be arrested and convicted for DUI of drugs, both legal, e.g. prescription, as well as cannabis, and other narcotics.

Erroneous abstracts and the need for attention to detail

I recently posted here, about about Chicago Top DUI Cop Joe Parker's highly questionable DUI arrests. Today I came across a different kind of 'mistake' which has serious consequences for anyone arrested for DUI in Chicago. I was reviewing a client's driving abstract, with a very long driving background.  I noticed many cases that had the disposition "judgment on bond forfeiture" (JBFX).  I began to cross-check them and discovered these matters were not supposed to be a part of his driving record, rather these matters had been dismissed.  

My heart was in my throat when I saw that this young man had spent a considerable amount of time in jail because the State's Attorney, and the court, relied on an official driving record that was chock-full of errors. All of the errors were against my client, none of the errors were to his benefit.

In the past I have seen approximately one error per year in all the countless abstracts I review.  The errors I have found to date have been always been connected to a Chicago DUI that my client claimed not to have.  That miniscule number of errors, while not acceptable, is at least understandable.  The record I reviewed today is neither understandable nor acceptable.

St. Patrick's Day and How You Can Avoid A Chicago DUI Based on the Little Green Drug

Here's an interesting Chicago DUI arrest tidbit to think about this weekend. I expect there to be sobriety checkpoints/roadside safety checks throughout the city this weekend. The Downtown, "Yes, Everyone is Irish" St. Patrick's Day Parade is this Saturday and the big Southside, Beverly/Morgan Park St. Patrick's Day Parade is this Sunday.

Funny, I could not find any Chicago Police Department Press releases warning you that there will be sobriety checkpoints throughout the weekend, and yes, they will nab you for driving without a valid license or without insurance, in addition to making DUI arrests. I did find Chicago Police press releases from last month, where the document is dated a few days before the sobriety checkpoint, but oddly enough it was not posted to the website until the day the enforcement was scheduled to start.

As I said earlier this week, I think the Police will be out in full force looking to make DUI arrests in spades this weekend. Be careful. Make sure there is a designated driver, and remember if you are stopped with any odor of alcohol on your breath, you will likely be arrested for DUI. Don't forget that you can also be arrested and convicted of DUI for ingesting the preferred green drug