Illinois DUI Lawyer Blog

The Illinois State Police, by statute, are required to video and audio record a vast array of different types of encounters with civilians while on the job. By June 1, 2011, all Illinois State Police cars were required to contain video and audio recording equipment for the purposes of recording most encounters that a trooper might come across. 20 ILCS 2610/30(b). State Troopers carry wireless microphones on them at all times to audio record such encounters. Id. Speaking specifically about traffic offenses and DUI cases, the statute provides that "Any enforcement stop resulting from a suspected violation of the Illinois Vehicle Code shall be video and audio recorded. 20 ILCS 2610/30(e). Recording equipment must be able to last up to 10 hours. 20 ILCS 2610/30(b).

The plain language of the statute seems clear. Whenever a vehicle is stopped for a suspected traffic violation, the entire encounter must be video and audio recorded.

Continue reading "Illinois State Police: What Is Their Obligation With Video And Audio Recording For DUI and Traffic Stops?" »

Move For a Discovery Sanction - Suppression of Evidence Is and Should Be Required When the State Fails to Retain Video

In 2011 the Illinois Supreme Court decided People v. Kladis, an important case which every criminal defense attorney should know. In Kladis, an officer had arrested the defendant on a misdemeanor DUI charge. Five days after the defendant's arrest, defense counsel filed a petition to rescind statutory summary suspension as well as a Rule 237(b) Notice to Produce at Summary Suspension Hearing. People v. Kladis, 355 Ill.Dec. 933, 935 (2011). The Notice specifically requested "any and all video tapes of defendant" while in custody. Id.

The Northlake police department had an internal policy that all videos were purged within 30 days of arrest. Despite receiving the request within 5 days of arrest, no copy was ever provided to the defendant and the video was subsequently purged on day 30. The lower court noted that the State was placed on "clear notice" that the defense wished to have the video, that the video was an "important piece of evidence," and imposition of a sanction was proper. Id. at 936. The Court ruled that the arresting officer was precluded from testifying as to anything that occurred five seconds prior to the start of the video recording until the arrest of the defendant when the video was turned off. Id. at 942. However, he was not precluded from testifying as to any events prior to or after the specified time, including previous observations of the defendant driving or her statements subsequent to arrest. Id.

Continue reading "What To Do When State Fails to Preserve Audio/Video" »

DUI - Getting Your Iowa Driver License & Your Illinois Driving Privileges Back When You Have Been Charged With An Illinois DUI

In Western Illinois, it's not uncommon for people to both work and play at different points along the boarder between Illinois and Iowa. When the bars close around 1:45 in the morning in Iowa, drivers will often cross the boarder into Illinois to visit bars which stay open as late as 5:00 AM. Illinois law enforcement is aware of this, and Illinois DUI stops are frequent, if not indiscriminate, along the Illinois/Iowa border in the early hours of the morning.

For an Iowa driver charged with an Illinois DUI, the effects of the Illinois DUI charge on the individual's Illinois driving privileges and Iowa driver license are fairly immediate and can be long term. This is because Iowa drivers who either refuse or submit to or fail an Illinois evidentiary breath test are subject to a civil suspension of their driving privileges in the State of Illinois. Then the Illinois Secretary of State informs the Iowa Department of Transportation (the "Iowa DOT") of this suspension, and the Iowa DOT then reciprocally revokes the individual's Iowa driver license for the refusal or failure of the Illinois evidentiary breath test.

For more detailed information on the Effect on An Iowa Driver's License of an Illinois Breath Test Failure or Breath Test Refusal, please see our previous post on that topic.

Continue reading "Iowa Driver in Illinois - Your License after DUI Charge" »

A driver with an Iowa license who is charged with an Illinois DUI as the result of the failure of an Illinois evidentiary breath test - where no other extenuating circumstances are involved - will be subject to a 180 day revocation of his driving privileges in Iowa. This revocation is separate from and in addition to the Illinois suspension and, while the two periods may overlap, the Iowa revocation period will begin and end on different dates than the Illinois suspension.

An Iowa resident who successfully defends an Illinois DUI charge, and whose driving rights are restored in Illinois, may find that his home state Iowa license is still revoked for 180 days.

For how effective Illinois DUI lawyers bring challenges to an Illinois DUI charge, see our previous posts on traffic stops based on momentary crossing of lane lines and prolonged traffic stops.

Continue reading "Iowa Drivers Arrested For DUI In Illinois Face Double Trouble" »

Despite the apparent latitude the Illinois Supreme Court gave police with their decision in People v. Hackett, DUI defense lawyers can still look to the safeguards provided by the 4th Amendment. While Hackett facially appears to give law enforcement the ability to stop a car for even a momentary lane crossing (albeit when it happens twice), it in no way changed the requirements for prolonging an initial stop. (See previous post for detail analysis of Hackett) Prolonging a traffic stop beyond the time required to perform the initial purpose is still violative of the 4th amendment unless the officer can point to observations warranting the continuation of the stop, like drugs, guns, or obvious and extreme alcohol impairment. In particular, note that a seizure which is justified solely by the interest in issuing a warning ticket to the driver can become unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete that mission."* Caballes, 543 U.S. at 407, 125 S.Ct. at 837, 160 L.Ed.2d at 846, cited by People v. Baldwin, 388 Ill. App. 3d 1028, 1033, 904 N.E.2d 1193, 1198 (3rd Dist. 2009).

Continue reading "DUI - Prolonging the Traffic Stop to Observe Evidence May Be Unlawful " »

DUI TRAFFIC STOP - Illinois Supreme Court decision may allow momentary inadvertent inching across highway lane divider as basis for law enforcement investigatory stop. First Paragraph: On Friday, July 6, 2012, the Illinois Supreme Court overruled the Hackett opinion of the Third District Appellate Court. People v. Hackett, 2012 IL 111781

Prior to the Supreme Court's opinion, Hackett stood for the rule that a police officer was not justified in stopping a driver who crossed over a lane line unless it was for some reasonably appreciable distance. The Appellate Court had ruled that there are too many innocent circumstances which may cause a driver to inadvertently and momentarily inch across a highway lane divider.

In Hackett, the driver was driving in the left, or passing, lane of a four-lane highway. The officer testified that Hackett went slightly over the black and white striped line between the two northbound lanes twice, 4 or 5 seconds apart.

The Circuit Court (trial court) had held that Hackett's driving did not give the officer reasonable grounds to stop him. The appellate court agreed.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Illinois lane usage statute does not differentiate between driving a long or short distance over the centerline, so distance is not a dispositive factor in determining whether the stop was justified.

The Court agreed that vehicle stops by police officers are subject to the fourth amendment's reasonableness requirement. As a general matter, it held that where the police have probable cause to believe a traffic violation has occurred, they may stop the driver but the Court also held that the less exacting standard of a "reasonable, articulable, suspicion" that a traffic violation had occurred, will justify a traffic stop. That is, the officer's belief need not rise to the level of probable cause to believe a traffic violation had occurred.

The Court noted that the lane usage statute creates an exception for violation because it requires driving only as near as "practicable" in one lane. Thus, whether there is "probable cause" or not to support charge of violation of the lane law statute requires a fact specific inquiry regarding, for instance, weather, road conditions, visibility, and obstacles which may be present. However, for the purpose of a traffic stop, the officer need not make all of these inquiries and rule out the exceptions - in judging a police officer's conduct, courts should apply an objective standard, considering whether the facts available to the officer at the moment of the seizure justify the actions taken. It may be a fair summary of Hackett that - if there are not readily apparent circumstances showing why driving in the same lane is not practicable - the officer may stop a vehicle to inquire further into the reason for the lane deviation.

Continue reading "DUI TRAFFIC STOP - Illinois Supreme Court allows stop based on momentary inching across highway lane divider " »