Chicago DUI Attorney Wonders About the Effectiveness of Roadblocks

This Chicago DUI Attorney wants you to know that tomorrow night you do not want to start your weekend trapped in an invasive, and in some jurisdictions illegal, roadblock.  So I've already done the leg work for you and here are the details.

From The Chicago Police Department's Website:

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Calumet (5th) District at 11800 S. Halsted. The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 27, 2013 and end at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 28, 2013.

During roadside safety checks, police officers slow down traffic, stop cars at regular intervals and watch for drivers who show signs of alcohol impairment and other violations as noted below.

Somehow, I think the citizens of this great city would rather spend these personnel hours with "boots on the ground" by way of community policing to decrease the number of intentional violent crimes that continue to befall this great city.  

Chicago DUI Attorney Comments on Missouri v. McNeeley-- Needles, Blood, and DUIs

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, and here on blood draws in DUI arrests.  Earlier today, the Supreme Court of the United States(SCOTUS) issued it's opinion in Missouri v. McNeeley.

Justice Sotomayer wrote the opinion:

We hold that in drunk-driving investigations, the natu­ral dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not constitute an exigency in every case sufficient to justify conducting a blood test without a warrant.

The judgment of the Missouri Supreme Court is affirmed. 

It is so ordered. 

In this case, McNeeley refused to consent to a blood draw.  Law enforcement had his blood drawn, against his will, at a hospital and the results were almost twice the legal limit.  McNeeley was successful in barring the blood results from being entered by the trial judge.  The government appealed and the State Supreme Court of Missouri agreed with the trial judge.  Then the government asked that the case be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and SCOTUS agreed.

That said, this ruling does not mean that there won't ever be a blood draw without a warrant.  Instead, careful consideration to the facts of the case are to be considered prior to drawing blood without a warrant.  

But motorists’ diminished expectation of privacy does not diminish their privacy interest in preventing a government agent from piercing their skin. And though a blood test conducted in a medical setting by trained personnel is less intrusive than other bodily invasions, this Court has never retreated from its recognition that any compelled intrusion into the human body implicates significant, constitutionally protected privacy interests. Finally, the government’s general interest in combating drunk driving does not justify departing from the warrant requirement without showing exigent circumstances that make securing a warrant impractical in a particular case.

This case now puts the government on notice that the default will be to obtain a warrant prior to drawing blood and if that does not occur, the government better be prepared to defend why it was not able to obtain a warrant prior to the blood draw.

Chicago DUI Attorney Comments on Police Lying About DUI Arrests

It is one simple question, why would the police lie about a DUI?

This Chicago DUI attorney hears this all the time when ever she is in a trial or pretrial motion from the government.  She thinks it's a really, really good question.  Unfortunately, her answer is unlikable. It is also simple. The answer is, because they can.

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, and here about police officers not telling the truth in DUI arrests.

Now comes word of a federal indictment against a former police commander accused of lying about DUI arrest records.  Why did he do it you ask?  It was for the money.  The money was your tax paying dollars given to his department by the federal government.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Timothy Veit, 55, of Mount Prospect, is alleged to have “knowingly and intentionally inflated” the number of DUI arrests made under a federally funded grant designed to curb drunk driving and seat belt violations, according to charges from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.


Federal authorities said the grant required submitting a form listing the number of DUI arrests made by police and the blood-alcohol content of the person arrested. Authorities said the department was then reimbursed for officer overtime pay, mileage and equipment.

From 2009 to 2012, Veit allegedly falsely inflated DUI arrest numbers by 122, and provided fake blood-alcohol content levels for those “fictitious” arrests, authorities said.

Authorities claim that Veit’s false reports meant the police department “fraudulently obtained” $132,893 in federal grant money from Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program grants funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What do you think about police officers receiving overtime pay for DUI arrests?

Chicago DUI Attorney Says, "Si Su Puede!" Driver's Licenses for The Undocumented Are Now Legal

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, here, and here about undocumented people driving in Illinois.  Yesterday, Governor Quinn signed into law a bill that will permit undocumented people to obtain valid driver’s licenses in Illinois.  This should be good news no matter your feelings on undocumented folks.  It was clear to me when I was a prosecutor and it is just as clear to me now as a defense attorney that undocumented people drive.  It makes far more sense to let them legally obtain licenses.  It means that when they purchase insurance, a requirement of the law that is not required for those that are documented in order to have a license, that insurance will honor claims filed on that policy.  The insurance company can no longer have a back way out of paying on the claim by cancelling the policy when a claim is made against it due to the policy holder lacking a valid driver’s license.  Something I’ve seen more times than I can count.

From the Chicago SunTimes: The signing of a bill Sunday allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses attracted dozens of potential motorists and a pack of top Illinois politicians, all eager to tout their role in legislation many see as a precursor to comprehensive immigration reform that could create a windfall of new citizens, and voters. Auto insurance is a requirement for drivers under the new Temporary Visitor’s Driver’s Licenses program, which also requires drivers to pass a vision exam, a written test and driving test, said Secretary of State Jesse White during the bill signing ceremony Sunday afternoon in the Little Village neighborhood.The licenses will be limited to driving purposes only, said White, who added they will not be accepted as valid identification for a host of other activities, such as boarding an airplane.Illinois is now the fourth and most populous state to give illegal immigrants permission to drive.

Now, let’s hope we can make our roads safer while our politicians move away from the feel good stories and get down to the tough business at land.

Chicago DUI Attorney Thinks Undocumented Immigrants Are Going to Get Driver's Licenses Soon

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here , here,  and here about the inability of undocumented immigrants to drive legally (you can’t get a driver’s license in Illinois if you are undocumented).  Now, it looks like Springfield has come to its senses and soon, although it will still be a while, undocumented people will be able to obtain valid driver’s licenses in Illinois.

From the Chicago SunTimes:

It was kind of a homecoming for Illinois’ Senate president when he visited a Pilsen church Sunday to accept a thank you from its Latino congregation for pushing legislation to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Sen. John Cullerton’s family has been involved in Illinois politics since Edward F. Cullerton was a powerful alderman from 1871 to 1920.

The senator has received bi-partisan support for a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to get temporary licenses similar to those issued to foreign visitors who are here legally. By some estimates, 250,000 motorists in Illinois are here illegally.

Cullerton said he’s confident the Illinois House will pass the measure next month after a 41-14 vote in the Senate on Dec. 4.

“The state representatives see their senator voted for the bill,” Cullerton said. “It puts pressure on them and makes it easier for them to vote for the bill.”

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is taking a “neutral” position on the bill, according to a spokesman, but Cullerton praised him for helping draft the legislation.

“He said that it’s workable and he can implement it,” Cullerton said, adding, “There were only about 5,000 of these licenses issued last year. Now there could be a quarter of a million people applying for them.”

Some Republican legislators have said they’re strongly opposed to providing licenses to people breaking the law because they’re here without legal documents.

Setting aside the controversy, this is good news because the undocumented drive every day throughout this state.  Many pay insurance, maintain valid registration, and even submit to emissions testing on their vehicles doing everything else they could do to comply with the law.  The problem is some don’t know our rules of the roads because they’ve never had to study and take our driver’s license examination. What happens when an undocumented/unlicensed, and yet insured, immigrant is at fault for an accident? Do you think that insurance company is going to promptly pay out on that claim?

Even the staunchest opponents of this new law probably don’t want that unintended consequence to fall on licensed drivers throughout the state.

Chicago DUI Attorney Comments on the Pending Demise of Court Supervision

This Chicago DUI attorney wonders, and not in jest, how long it will be before judges are unnecessary.  She’s posted here, and here about the erosion of judicial discretion and it looks like that erosion may very well continue if you don’t write your legislators that you trust the judiciary to grant court supervision when, and where it’s appropriate.

 From the Southern.com:

A state traffic safety committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s proposal to make drivers involved in fatal collisions ineligible for court supervision.
Under current law, drivers involved in some fatal crashes may seek court supervision. White, the traffic safety committee’s chairman, pushed to end that practice.

One of the reasons I left prosecution was this very issue where citizens were charged in fatalities when they clearly were not at fault. This included the prosecution of a mother, when her child died in a an accident.  She wasn't drinking, she wasn't texting, it was just a horrible tragedy.  

It's time.  It's time to exercise your democracy and let your legislators know that you trust judges to grant court supervision in fatalities.  Sometimes, tragedy strikes and there isn't a need to heap punishment on top of the tragedy.

Chicago DUI Lawyer Comments on the Necessity of Slowing Down

This Chicago DUI Lawyer has commented here, here, and here on the criminalization of speeding.  I’m adamantly opposed to it.  I think it is a complete and utter waste of taxpayers time and of our precious and limited resources when it comes to prosecuting crimes throughout the state, but especially in the density of a major metropolis like Chicago.

Unfortunately, your state legislators often find these stories more compelling than a lot of the agenda items and Governor Quinn just signed another one.

From The Chicago Tribune:

Gov. Pat Quinn today signed four road safety measures into law including one that toughens penalties for extreme speeders and was inspired by a fatal car crash in southwest suburban Orland Park last summer.

Coined “Julie’s Law,” the legislation was written in response to a two-vehicle crash that killed  17-year-old Julie Gorczynski in June 2011 when a Mazda smashed into the passenger side of her friend’s Jeep. The 21-year-old Mazda driver, who had a history of speeding violations, was found to be traveling at least 76 mph in a 40 mph zone, police said.

The law, which takes effect July 1, 2013, bars judges from giving court supervision, a form of probation, to drivers found traveling more than 25 mph over the limit on a nonrural road or more than 30 mph on a highway. The previous law allowed the probation for drivers caught driving up to 40 mph over the limit.

I'm predicting that in the not-too-distant future driving 25 mph over the limit will result in a criminal charge.