Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg
Defendant Mary Osborne was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated in a manner that endangers a person and operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.08. Before trial, Osborne filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the warrantless traffic stop preceding her arrest was constitutionally invalid. The trial court denied her motion. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the police exceeded their Fourth Amendment authority in stopping Osborne’s car out of an alleged concern for her medical state.
On interlocutory appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals’ opinion and reversed the trial court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress, holding that the government failed to show that the stop was justified by an exception to the warrant requirement.