Chicago DUI attorney comments on citizens' arrests and social media

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here and here about Big Brother. 

Here is another use of Facebook being used to "solve crimes.

From the nytimes.com:

This city is famous for its snarled traffic and infamous for its unruly drivers — aggressive rule-breakers who barrel through red lights, ignore crosswalks and veer into bicycle or bus lanes to find open routes.

 Now, the city’s overburdened traffic police officers have enlisted an unexpected weapon in the fight against dangerous driving: Facebook.

The traffic police started a Facebook page two months ago, and almost immediately residents became digital informants, posting photos of their fellow drivers violating traffic laws. As of Sunday more than 17,000 people had become fans of the page and posted almost 3,000 photographs and dozens of videos.

The online rap sheet was impressive. There are photos of people on motorcycles without helmets, cars stopped in crosswalks, drivers on cellphones, drivers in the middle of illegal turns and improperly parked vehicles.

Using the pictures, the Delhi Traffic Police have issued 665 tickets, using the license plate numbers shown in the photos to track vehicle owners, said the city’s joint commissioner of traffic, Satyendra Garg.

Despite some concerns about privacy, and the authenticity of the photos, the public’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, he said.

Is there any doubt that there will be an increase in citizens’ arrests here using the same technology?

Chicago DUI attorney comments on the lack of eye tricks when there is a video

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here and here on the significance of video recording in DUI arrests.

Here’s one more reason why you can’t always take the government’s witness at his word.

August 2, Sacramento, CA

 Video of a DUI suspect appears to contradict the claims of the arresting officer, who is now under investigation for allegedly exaggerating his written reports in at least two incidents.

The video shows she passed parts of the field sobriety test that Officer Mullock claimed she failed. The officer wrote she missed the letters "K," "L," and "M," but the video shows she recited the letters perfectly.

Officer Mullock claimed she missed the number 85 when he asked her to count back from 100. The video shows her clearly saying "85," and Mullock even said, "Okay, great," when she counted back to 80.

"It's just funny, because when you watch the video and look at the report, they don't match up," the driver said.

The video also shows the driver never took some tests Officer Mullock said she failed.

The Sacramento County District Attorney is now reviewing every case in which Officer Mullock was a reporting witness.

Mullock has been on paid administrative leave since January due to an off-duty incident.

Yes.  This does sound an awful lot like a Chicago case.

Chicago DUI attorney answers the simple question about what number gets you charged with a DUI

Earlier this week, this Chicago DUI attorney was the featured guest on the Cook County Bar Association’s call-in show.  There were lots of great questions that didn’t get answered.  Here’s one of them.

How high must an individual’s blood alcohol concentration level be for him/her to be arrested for a DUI?

                    

This is a great question.  It has a down and dirty easy answer, but then it gets complicated.

Easy-off-the cuff-answer:  In Illinois a person is deemed over the legal limit (for purposes of a DUI) if there Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is over 0.08.

Unfortunately, you can be arrested for a DUI in any of the following scenarios as well:

1)     There is no Blood Alcohol Concentration result because there is no testing.

2)      The BAC is well under 0.08.

3)     The BAC is 0.00.

In Illinois, even if you submit to chemical testing and the result is under the legal limit of 0.08 you can be charged with a DUI. 

Additionally, you can be charged with a DUI for any amount of cannabis/marijuana in your system, or a combination of alcohol and cannabis/marijuana, or any intoxicating compound (this could very well be doctor prescribed medications).

So now you can understand why the answer to a direct question isn’t quite so simple.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on deportation, undocumented status, and DUI

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here and here about immigration issues and DUI. 

Still, the shrill cries for deportation of an undocumented person accused of DUI and the resulting death of a nun shouldn’t derail our justice system.

August 5, Washington, D.C.:

 Proponents of tougher immigration enforcement have seized on the case of a Bolivian man charged with killing a nun and critically injuring two others while driving drunk as a symbol of a badly broken immigration system.

Carlos A. Martinelly-Montano, 23, who entered the United States illegally at age 8 with his parents and sister, has been awaiting a deportation hearing after two convictions for drunken driving in 2007 and 2008. His case has been postponed three times -- and it is one of about 243,000 cases that are clogging immigration courts, according tostatistics compiled by Syracuse University.

Because of the backlog, it takes 15 months to conclude the average case. Martinelly-Montano's has dragged on for nearly two years.

immigrant advocates and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have said that this is a case about drunken driving, not illegal immigration. The nuns' order, the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia, has asked that the crash not be politicized.

But Martinelly-Montano has become Exhibit A in calls to stiffen immigration enforcement since his car swerved Sunday into the path of a vehicle carryingthree nuns who were on their way to a retreat in Prince William County. He told police he didn't remember the crash, according to the arrest warrant. Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said he intends to ask a grand jury to return a second-degree murder indictment next month.

While the laws of this country need to be followed, there are plenty of citizens charged with DUI’s involving serious accidents and death.  There are also plenty of citizens charged with auto accidents involving serious accidents and death who weren’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on the guilty plea from a judge

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted about judges with DUI offenses here, here, and here.  Today, another judge joins the ranks of being the accused.

From suntimes.com:

A DuPage County judge charged in a hit-and-run crash with a parked car pleaded guilty to reckless driving today while making his first court appearance.

After his guilty plea to the misdemeanor offense, Judge Kenneth Popejoy was fined $500 and sentenced to six months of conditional discharge, a type of non-reporting probation.

Popejoy declined to comment directly after the court appearance, but said in a written statement that he accepts “full and complete responsibility for my actions.’’

“I deeply regret my conduct in this matter and intend to rededicate myself to the principles and values in my life that have brought me so many blessings,’’ his statement said.

He declined to comment further because of a pending review of the crash by the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board, which has the power to discipline judges for their conduct.

Unlike many who are accused of criminal misdemeanors, the judge didn’t lose his job.

Chicago DUI attorney comments on cell phone traps

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here and here about distracted driving.

Apparently, the big news today is where to avoid getting caught breaking the law.

August 2, Chicago, Il

Drivers in Chicago are most likely to get ticketed for driving while talking on a cell phone if they do it downtown or on the Near North Side.

That's according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of tickets issued during the first half of this year.

Particular hot spots in those areas include stretches of Ontario, Ohio and State streets, the analysis found.

Other parts of the city where you're more likely than in most places to get a ticket for cell phone use while driving:

• The South Side's 21st Police District, which includes Hyde Park and Kenwood.

• And on the Northwest Side, the 17th District, including Sauganash and Albany Park.

Chicago neighborhoods where drivers are issued the fewest cell phone tickets? Those were mostly in high-crime areas like Englewood, where police officers say they tend to have their hands full with other crimes.

Overall, the number of tickets written for driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone since the city's ban was enacted in 2005 is on the rise. There was a dip in 2008, when the city revised its ban, to let driver's keep their licenses and pay their fine by mail and not have to go to court if they weren't cited for any traffic violation beside cell phone use.

But will handing out cell phone tickets put a dent in the number of drivers who use cell phones while driving?

Getting a ticket in Lake View last January had an impact on Scarlett Wallen. Wallen, 42, said she always uses a headset now.

"It made me more careful because I don't want to get another ticket," she said. "It wasn't cheap."

Since she got the ticket, she said, "I've told my friends to be more careful."

No one needs to remind you that you will get ticketed if you don’t have a headset on while driving and using your cell right?

Chicago DUI attorney comments on the end of the sticky situation with city stickers

This Chicago DUI attorney posted here about faulty city stickers.  City sticker enforcement starts today.  It’s not an inexpensive ticket.

August 1, Chicago, Il

Is your 2010-2011 city of Chicago vehicle sticker displayed on your car? It had better be, because starting Sunday vehicles that don't have a current sticker will be ticketed.

The traditional grace period to July 15 was extended an extra two weeks this year to allow for the replacement of stickers that had faulty adhesive.

Even if motorists who haven't yet applied the new stickers to their windshields somehow elude a ticket, they will still be subject to a late fee of $40 if they wait until Sunday or later to purchase their sticker. The price of the ticket for not having a sticker displayed is $120, according to the city clerk's office. The cost of a vehicle sticker is $75.

The City did a great job of replacing the stickers, even if you didn’t have your defective one on hand.  If you did get a replacement sticker, make sure you’ve removed the defective one and placed the new one on your vehicle.