| ARRESTED FOR DUI An arrest for DUI is simply an allegation that must be proved in Court. If you have been arrested for DUI, you may be facing one or more different types of DUI charges that stem from one incident either as a misdemeanor(s) or felony. In Illinois, you can be charged with DUI in six different ways: 1) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(1) - Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol with a Breath or Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) greater than 0.08; 2) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(2) - Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol; 3) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(3) - Driving While Under the influence of an Intoixcating Compound; 4) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(4)- Driving While Under the Influence of Drugs 5) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(5) - Driving While Under the Combined Influence of Alcohol and Drugs; 6) 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(6)- Drivng While there is any amount of a Controlled Substance, Cannabis or Intoxicating Compound that is present in the blood, breath or urine as a result of unlawful use. Each of the aforementioned types of DUI charges have built in defenses that may be tailored to your individual circumstances if you have been charged with DUI. As an experienced Skokie DUI defense lawyer, your defense will be guided based upon years of defending DUI's, lecturing to other attorney's, and prosecuting thousands of DUI's. Each case is different. However, it is crucial that a competent and aggressive DUI Defense Attorney stand by your side and give you a defense to your case based upon experience, the law, and creativity utilizing "outside the box" thinking to obtain results. If you have been charged with 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(1), it is crucial to suppress the breath or blood test. Accordingly, a competent DUI Defense Attorney, will analyze A) the stop of your vehicle, B) whether there was probable cause to arrest, C) the observation period (REQUIRED) prior to taking a breath test, D) whether there were foreign substances in your mouth prior to a breath test, E) whether you suffer from acid reflux, F) whether there was difficulty in taking a breath test, G) whether it is necessary to subpoena internal records of the breath test machinge showing any maintenace issues with the breath test machine, H) your case as to whether a retrograde extrapolation defense exists requiring the use of an expert witness (was your breath test result higher at the police station compared to when you were driving); I) the taking of your breath test by subpoenaing booking room videos to catch police officers in lies as compared to their police reports. If you have been charged with 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(2), the State or prosecuting authority must prove the officer's subjective opinion and observations that you were driving while under the influence of alcohol beyond a reasonable doubt. With this type of charge, it is necessary to show that the State's case is not strong enough to sustain their burden or reasons why doubt exists as to your alleged intoxication. A competent and aggressive DUI Defense Attorney will analyze, A) the stop of your vehicle; B) whether there was probable cause to arrest; C) whether the field sobriety testing in substance, location, and conditions were administered pursuant to NHTSA; D) whether you have any medical or physical impairments that may effect your abilty to perform field sobriety testing; E) your weight; F)your clothing and shoes worn at the time of arrest; G) whether the video recording was destroyed, H)whether the video recording captured audio only violating the eavesdropping statute, I)whether you were taken outside the scope of the video camera while being investigated for DUI; J) whether the officer is inexperienced in the field of DUI. If you have been charged with 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(4) or 625 ILCS 11-501(a)(5), the State must show that you were either under the influence of drugs or the combined influence of drugs and alcohol. Most police officers have not had the requisite training to be declared a drug recognition expert and therefore are not qualifed to render an opinion that you were under the influence of drugs in violation of the aforementioned. Nonetheless, that does not mean that inexperienced police officers will not charge you 11-501(a)(4) or 11-501(a)(5) nor does it mean that the judge will understand that the state will not and cannot prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt without an expert witness. That is why it is crucial to know your Judge, prosecutor and the law before any litigation. The Law Offices of Steven J.Block & Associates has the experience inside and outside the courtroom to build your defense to your DUI charges efficiently, aggressively and in an affordable manner. If you have been charged with 625 IL-501(a)(6), the State would normally try to prove this charge by way of a urine test showing the presence of an illegal controlled substance , cannabis, or intoxicating compound. Many times wholes be put in the State's case showing that there was not a proper chain of custody as to how the urine sample was tested by the forensic scientist and/or the collection procedure was done in a manner as required by the Illinois Administrative Code. Presently, based upon new case law, the State in some districts attempts to prove this charge without a urine test based upon the odor of cannabis stemming from the breath of an individual. Since DUI arrests based upon Drugs is on the rise year after year, it is important to consult with and hire a DUI Defense Attorney who can properly defend your case based upon the growing law in this field. SUMMARY SUSPENSION Nowithstanding the criminal charges you will be facing as a result of your DUI arrest, you most likely will be facing a suspension or revocation of your driver's license based simply on whether you took a breath, blood or urine test and failed it or if you refused a breath,blood, or urine test. This is a civil matter and the civil rules of procedure apply. Since it is a civil matter, the burden of proof is yours and not beyond a reasonable doubt. Since the burden of proof is a civil, preponderance of the evidence standard, it is important to win your suspension on a technicality if possible. The earlier you hire an attorney to represent you and file a Petition to Rescind your Summary Suspension, the more likely you can win it and not be suspended or revoked from the summary suspension. Moreover, many times, the Notice of Summary Suspension is defective on its face and warrants the recission of your summary suspension. If you are are a first offender under the summary suspension law, your license will be suspended for 6 months if you fail a chemical test and 1 year if you refuse a chemical test. If you are not a first offenser under the summary suspension law, your license will be suspended for 1 year if you fail a chemical test and 3 years if your refuse a chemical test. ( NOTE: you are still a first offender under summary suspension law as long as you have not had either a previous summary suspension or DUI disposition (supervision or conviction) within 5 years from your most recent DUI arrest.) If you have been arrested for DUI and have received a Notice of Summary Suspension, do not panic even if you drive for a living, have a commerical driver's license (CDL), or need to operate an automobile for non-employment activitites. Many times, summary suspensions can be thrown out via negotiation, hearing, due process violations and good lawyering. Accordingly, the quicker you react to your DUI and hire an attorney who can assist you competently, the more likely you will obtain the relief you desire. MDDP If you are a first offender under the summary suspension law, you are eligible for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP). Unlike, the prevoously eligible Judical Driving Permit (JDP), the Court has no discretion as to whether they are granted to an individual. This MDDP allows you to drive during the statutory summary suspension so long as you have a Breath Alcohol Interlock Ignition Device (BAIID) device installed in your vehicle during your summary suspension EXCEPT for the first 30 daysof the suspension. Due to the cost of the BAIID and malfunctioning issues associated with them it is advisable to view a MDDP as a back up plan and win your summary suspension based on the prompt filing of the petition to rescind your statutory summary suspension. EXPERIENCE, TRUST & SUCCESS After prosecuting thousands of cases of DUI's, the Law Offices of Steven J. Block & Associates knows what the police did right and what they did wrong. Moreover, it is crystal clear what the state's attorney will be focusing on, what types of questions they will have under cross examination, and what actions they will take to prove their case. This experience has allowed each and every client to feel confident with the defense and gameplan as to obtain the best possible result for you. The Law Offices of Steven J. Block & Associates has over twelve years of experience and results in prosecuting and defending DUI's giving clients the proprer insight to trust that their case is given the proper personal attention that it needs. After all, your decisionto hire a DUI Defense Attorney should be driven by results. The Law Offices of Steven J. Block & Associates offers a realistic results orrientated approach to build a defense to your case in protecting your liberty, ability to operate a motor vehicle, maintain your employment, and put your recent DUI arrest in the past in an expedited successful manner. |
