Chicago DUI lawyer provides an update on the new prosecutor's DUI

This Chicago DUI lawyer posted here from her home state of South Carolina about another prosecutor's DUI arrest. Now comes word, that he has resigned.

September 1, Greenwood, S.C.

The City Of Greenwood's lead prosecutor has resigned after being arrested and charged with driving under the influence, the mayor confirmed Monday.

Matthew Pinckney resigned his position on Friday, according to Mayor Welborn Adams.

Troopers said Pinckney was arrested around 10:50 p.m. last Thursday after he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Highway 25.

Pinckney was voted in as lead municipal prosecutor after Stephen Welch announced he was stepping down to join a private law firm. Pinckney had served as Welch's assistant.

Pinckney grew up in Greenwood and graduated from Greenwood High School.

Looks like he didn't take the advice of South Carolina DUI Prosecutor Barney Geise.

Chicago DUI lawyer comments on ICE, DUI, and roadblocks

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here about the consequences of DUI and undocumented people. Now it looks like local law enforcement has expanded the DUI roadblock exception to assist the Feds.

September 8, Kings Beach, CA

A handful of illegal immigrants detained last week by federal agents after being arrested near a DUI checkpoint on Lake Tahoe's North Shore have since been deported.

On Tuesday, Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said “several” of the 12 subjects detained at the Friday, Aug. 28, checkpoint in Kings Beach were deported last week to their home countries after being identified as illegals.

She declined to name the subjects, saying ICE doesn't release the names of deported persons because the matter is administrative, not criminal. Kice also said she couldn't release the exact number of those deported.

The checkpoint near the intersection of Highways 28 and 267 in Kings Beach was operated by the Truckee-based California Highway Patrol, which used the site to detain three DUI drivers.

“Of the 12 individuals we identified who were potentially deportable, 10 were the subject of ICE detainers and the other two were arrested on local charges,” Kice said.

The subjects were housed at the Placer County Jail in Auburn, because ICE doesn't have a detention facility in Northern California, Kice said.

Once their immigration status were determined, ICE either deported the subjects or placed a detainer on them so the subjects may face local and state charges.

Here's the rub. The purpose of the roadblock was DUI and other infractions. I'm curious how they discovered these 12 individuals were illegally here. Did they all have a valid reason to be stopped at the roadblock? Were all of them drivers or were some passengers? Folks right now, you aren't required to carry identification on your person. This strikes me largely as a government expansion of the use of roadblocks. Oh sure, right now, like the commenters in the article said, you don't mind. How long before those roadblocks are used to pick up folks behind in child support payments or those who owe money to local governments for tickets? I can see lots of uses for roadblocks aside from public safety. Remember, they arrested a whopping three drivers for DUI.

Chicago DUI lawyer comments on the DUI roadblock protesters

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here, here, and here about roadblocks and whether their erosion of your Constitutional rights is a good thing. Now citizens are fighting back against this questionable tool.

September 4, Moreno Valley, CA

The link above is to a video report featured on CNN. The folks in the community stood with signs in English and Spanish alerting folks to the roadblock ahead. They actually told them to turn back.

Apparently, these protesters were concerned that the roadblocks were a racial profiling tool and of little benefit to the community.

Whatever your position on this issue is, its nice to see folks get involved in events that impact their lives.

Chicago DUI lawyer provides an update on DUI Judge's DUI

This Chicago DUI laywer has posted about law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges receiving DUI's. Now comes the news that the DUI judge has pled guilty to his own DUI.

September 4, Peoria, IL

A Peoria County judge has pleaded guilty to driving drunk earlier this summer and has paid a fine of nearly $2,000.

Associate Judge Albert Purham Jr., 52, pleaded guilty Thursday in Tazewell County after being ticketed on charges of DUI, having a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.08 percent and improper lane usage on June 27.

Purham also paid a fine of $1,934. His license was suspended for six months, and he will be required to have a monitoring device installed in his vehicle if he is granted a driving permit before the suspension is lifted. He will remain on court supervision for one year.

Purham did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

According to court records, Purham had a BAC of 0.121 - beyond the 0.08 legal threshold for driving - when he was pulled over shortly after midnight on Cummings Road in Washington.

Purham was removed from his position as a traffic judge in Peoria County after his arrest and reassigned to one of the county's two divorce courts.

Chief Peoria County Circuit Judge Stuart Borden said at the time that he didn't think it would be appropriate for Purham to preside over traffic or criminal cases until the DUI charge was resolved. Borden could not be reached for comment Friday.

Purham took the bench in 2003, and his first assignment was Tazewell County misdemeanor court. He has served in Peoria County's juvenile abuse court and misdemeanor courtrooms as well.

He began his legal career in 1983 when he worked as an advocate for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. He became a Peoria County assistant state's attorney a year later, and he was the head of the office's felony division when he was selected to be a judge.

Interestingly, he's the only judge I've posted on who submitted to Breath Alcohol Testing.

Somehow, I think he's not going to lose his job. Perhaps MADD can use him as spokesperson. Who better than a judge who sentenced people for DUI?

Chicago DUI lawyer comments on car accidents without DUI's being a factor

This Chicago DUI lawyer has commented here, here, and here about accidents. I've devoted several posts to studies of distracted driving being more dangerous than DUI's. Now I'm the victim of an accident.

Like many Americans, in the ritual that signals the waning days of summer, I hit the road yesterday in celebration of Labor Day. Traffic was absolutely miserable by the time we started our journey. As we traveled on I-894 traffic was slowing to a halt when all of a sudden the car was rocked and we were all jolted. We were rear-ended. No the driver wasn't Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or any other illegal substance. She had simply just gotten off of work and was trying to get home. She was also talking on her cell. She was very upset and concerned about our welfare.

What a way to start the holiday weekend. "Let's be careful out there."

Chicago DUI lawyer reconsiders whether you should submit to testing in a DUI arrest

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here, here, and here about DUI testing. After my post here about false readings and discussing false positive results with a client who has a breath alcohol device installed on his car I am no longer comfortable advising you to submit to any of the chemical tests.

Did you know that asthma inhalers and mouth wash could trigger false positive readings. Those false positives can be on both Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices (BAIID), installed into your vehicle, as well as the breathalyzer machines and devices used by law enforcement to determine whether you are under the influence?

My client, with the BAIID, told me he used a mouthwash which he spit out. He then left his home a short time later and tried to start his car. The BAIID gave him a fail despite the fact that he had not consumed any alcohol. He went back into his home and tried again twenty minutes later. Then the BAIID permitted him to drive away. He was shocked.

From SmartStart of California, by the way the Smart Start company is an approved BAIID provider in Illinois:

6. Mouthwash/Mouthspray causes the Ignition Interlock to fail.

Mouthwash and sprays usually contain up to 30% alcohol and will definitely react as alcohol in all ignition interlock devices. Non-alcohol mouthwash is available and all ignition interlock users should use this mouthwash. The alcohol concentration level can register as high as.250 but will immediately dissipate within a fifteen (15) minute timeframe due to being mouth alcohol only or quicker if the mouth is rinsed with water. Smart Start clients are always instructed to rinse their mouths out with water before each and every test.

7. Chocolate mints, Altoids, Dentyne and other gums cause the Ignition Interlock to fail.

Alcohol filled chocolates will register a fail; however, the alcohol in the chocolate will dissipate in 3 minutes.

8. Cinnamon Rolls and Donuts make the Ignition Interlock fail.

The sugar and the active yeast can combine to create a low level alcohol fail some of the time. However, as with cigarette smoke or mouthwash, a second test will indicate a drop or a completely clean test. Rinsing the mouth with water after eating and before blowing into the device will eliminate a fail. Smart Start clients should ALWAYS rinse their mouth with water before taking a test.

Do you think you will get a second chance to submit to chemical testing a half hour later after the initial submission when you are arrested for a DUI? Do you really want to have to defend against that charge with a BAC over the legal limit at work?

Chicago DUI lawyer says there are no "kicks" on US 41 this holiday weekend

This Chicago DUI lawyer has already posted here and here about the robust and early start to roadside testing this holiday season. Well, it is going to be busy on Lake Shore Drive this holiday weekend because large swaths of U.S. 41 will be a hotbed of DUI checkpoints. That's right from Michigan to the north through Indiana to the south the famed highway will be crawling with law enforcement.

September 3, Chicago, IL

In what's touted as a first-of-its-kind crackdown on drunken driving, police will be out tonight along the 800 miles of U.S. 41 in Illinois and three other states, including Lake Shore Drive.

Law enforcement will hunt for impaired drivers between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. Friday.

The highway runs from the Michigan Upper Peninsula, through Wisconsin, into Illinois and straight through Indiana.

Let's be careful out there, and if you can manage it, stay off of U.S. 41 this weekend.