Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg

Published on: August 13, 2010

Illinois DUI and Statute of Limitations

Illinois DUI lawyers are often asked about statutes of limitations. A statute of limitations restricts the time in which the state can charge you. In that connection, there are two separate but related issues.

If you are accused of a misdemeanor (fewer than three previous DUI offenses), the state has 18 months from the date the offense was allegedly committed in which to file charges against you. If you have more than two previous DUI offenses, you may have committed a felony DUI. In that case, the state has 3 years from the date the alleged offense was committed in which to bring charges.

Once charges are filed against you, the statute of limitations has been satisfied. Therefore, if you skip out on court, the state can prosecute you for that DUI years later and not run afoul of the statute of limitations.

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Published on: August 6, 2010

Illinois DUI and felony

By Theodore Harvatin

Repeat DUI offenses can result in felony charges, leading to prison time, as much as 30 years in some situations. As you ask yourself, should I hire an Illinois DUI lawyer for a first offense, keep in mind the following information. It demonstrates that previous DUI offenses can come back to haunt you when the judge is deciding what sentence to impose.

If you have more than two previous DUI offenses, you may be charged with a felony. In determining whether or not you are felony eligible, both out-of -state DUI offenses, as well as DUI offenses for which you received court supervision, are included.

If you believed that supervision “does not go on my record and does not count”, you misunderstood how Illinois DUI supervision works. Supervision does not cause a driver’s license revocation and does not become part of your public driving record. However, the prosecutor, the Secretary of State, the police and the judge will be aware of it, forever. Likewise, you might be surprised to discover that an out-of-state DUI offense that is not on your Illinois record but that the state knows about because of the National Registry/ PDPS also counts when assessing the felony issue.

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Published on: July 29, 2010

Illinois DUI hold on out of state driver’s license

By Theodore Harvatin

Recently, a Pennsylvania man was penalized for a 1985 DUI. The driver was arrested for DUI while visiting Maine in 1985 and satisfied all the requirements of the state of Maine. However, because of bureaucratic confusion, the DUI was not reported to Pennsylvania, the state where he held a driver’s license, until 2004.

In 2009, the driver was arrested in Pennsylvania for DUI. Pennsylvania law provides that someone without a DUI conviction in the previous 10 years is entitled to more lenient treatment.

The driver argued that his previous DUI was more than 10 years old. However, because the conviction was entered on his record within the last 10 years, he was not entitled to more lenient treatment, the court ruled.

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Published on: July 22, 2010

Choosing an Illinois Driver’s License Reinstatement Lawyer

By Theodore Harvatin

You work hard for your money and do not want to waste it. If you lose your driver’s license, you may be tempted to have attend a Secretary of State driver’s license hearing without the benefit of a lawyer You may have been told to attend the first hearing on your own because “they deny everybody the first time”. ‘Everybody” who does not know what they are doing, or who hires an attorney who does not understand the process, or who believes what an ill-informed evaluator tells them will get denied the first time.

However, this does not have to be the outcome if you hire an experienced and knowledgeable driver’s license hearing lawyer. Certainly the fees you pay are important, but if a lawyer who charges low fees does not have the experience and knowledge of the process to achieve a favorable outcome, you have not saved any money; you have wasted all of the money you paid him.

Ask a potential lawyer these questions: How many hearings do you attend each week; how long have you been doing this; is this the main part of your practice, or do you just do this “on the side” to bring in extra money; how much experience did you have as a Secretary of State hearing officer before you started representing clients; how many articles have you published or lectures have you given to other lawyers on this topic?

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Published on: July 15, 2010

DUI arrest statistics show increase in female offenders

By Theodore Harvatin

Any experienced Illinois DUI lawyer can tell you that the overwhelming majority of those arrested for DUI are male. Some reasons for this are that men drive more miles than women, men are under more pressure as they are typically the primary breadwinners of a family, men take greater risks and society is more accepting of male excessive alcohol consumption.

However, United States Department of Transportation studies have shown a dramatic increase in female DUI arrests. The same reasons are cited: women are driving more, women have suffered fewer job losses during the recession and thus are often the primary source of family income, and particularly among younger women, there is less social stigma attached to DUI than was once the case.

In earlier times, judges were receptive to a man’s argument that the consequences of a DUI were too severe. He needed to “feed his family”. Not only could he face jail time and loss of driving privileges, but the monetary costs of a DUI would take money out of his pocket and that of his family.

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Published on: July 8, 2010

When it comes to Illinois DUI, your problems do not end with the courts

By Theodore Harvatin

If you are arrested for an Illinois DUI, two things are at risk. The first is your liberty and property; the second is your driver’s license.

DUI is a crime. As such, you are subject to fines and possible jail time if you are convicted of DUI. For a first DUI offense with no death or injury, a conviction can result in up to 364 days in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500.

Many Illinois courts will also require to you attend a Victim Impact Panel (VIP), not drink or use drugs or go to taverns during a probationary period, attend a few Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation. You might also be required to complete Driver Risk Education (DRE) and complete alcohol counseling.

After you are convicted of the DUI, your driver’s license will be revoked. In order to have it returned to you, you must have a hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State.

You may believe that once you have met all the court requirements–paid your fines, done your jail time, not gone to a tavern or consumed alcohol or drugs, obtained your evaluation and completed all your classes–the driver’s license reinstatement hearing would be a simple matter of providing evidence to the Illinois Secretary of State of these accomplishments.

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Published on: July 1, 2010

Illinois DUI arrests and traffic offenses for CDL holders

By Theodore Harvatin

A commercial driver’s license (“CDL”) is in essence a trucker’s license. In order to obtain a CDL, you must pass a number of written and driving tests administered by the Illinois Secretary of State.

What may surprise you as a CDL holder is that you can lose your CDL for offenses that do no occur in your commercial motor vehicle (“CMV”). When the Illinois Secretary of State invalidates a CDL, it is known as a disqualification (“DQ”).

If you commit any offense that causes a suspension or revocation of your regular driving privileges, your CDL will also be invalid. For example, a suspension for too many traffic tickets in a non CMV (your car for example) would cause your CDL to also be invalid.

If you are under 21, you can obtain a CDL. There are certain offenses such as drinking tickets, minor-in-a-tavern, minor-in-possession and fake ID’s that will cause a suspension of your driver’s license even if you are not driving. Remember that a suspended license will also invalidate your CDL during the suspension period.

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Published on: June 24, 2010

Multiple DUI Offenders in Illinois

By Theodore Harvatin

Someone with multiple DUI convictions in Illinois may be charged with a felony and could be sent to prison. In addition, their driver’s license will be revoked either for 5 years, 10 years or life.

Illinois DUI law provides for escalating criminal penalties for each new DUI charge. In the more extreme cases, probation is not an option; you will be sentenced to prison (the Illinois Department of Corrections, not just the county jail). You should also expect to pay higher and higher fines for each new DUI offense.

In addition, upon being convicted of DUI, you will have a driver’s license revocation. If you have not had a successful driver’s license reinstatement hearing, any later DUI arrests will mean you were also driving with a revoked license. Upon conviction for that offense, you will face jail time separate and apart from any jail or prison time you receive if you are convicted of the new DUI. In addition, your license will be revoked for another year.

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Published on: June 17, 2010

Illinois DUI crash leads to arrest

By Theodore Harvatin

A woman in Galesburg, Illinois was recently arrested for DUI after an accident. The driver fled on foot but police later apprehended her. She was arrested and transported to the hospital for treatment of her injuries.

While the police were no doubt concerned about the driver’s safety, they had a second motive in transporting her to the hospital. Her emergency room doctor was no doubt told that police suspected she has used alcohol and drugs. As a result, the doctor ordered blood tests, as alcohol or drugs in the driver’s system could affect the doctor’s decision about what medications to order.

The blood tests results the doctor ordered for treatment purposes will not be admissible in determining whether or not the driver’s license of the accused will be suspended due to registering over the .08 legal limit and whether she will be required to obtain an MDDP. On the other hand, those results are admissible in the DUI prosecution itself. This prosecution, if successful, could result in a driver’s license revocation, and the driver would then need an Illinois driver’s license reinstatement hearing.

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Published on: June 10, 2010

Two Springfield Illinois DUI cops among most active in the state

By Theodore Harvatin

Two Springfield DUI police officers are among the Top 15 for DUI arrests in Illinois. These figures come from the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AIIM).

AIIM’S name suggests that it is a “grass-roots” organization. However, the fine print on its web page reveals that AIIM is nothing but a government-sponsored entity masquerading as something else (they had me fooled at first).

Anyone ever arrested in Illinois for DUI knows that while the government claims DUI enforcement is all about public safety, they sure make a lot of money off it. Towing expenses, bond, fines, fees, and so forth all benefit the state, the county, police agencies and some other special interests whose mission bears little, if any, relationship to public safety.

If you are convicted of DUI, even a first offense carries with it the potential of up to $2,500 in fines, not to mention probation fees, random drug testing (at your expense), head trauma funds, victim impact panel funds, and whatever else the authorities can conjure up to take money out of your wallet. The state police even charge a fee for arresting you!

There’s more: prepare to pay for high risk insurance that you must carry for 36 months, a drug and alcohol evaluation, 20 to 75 hours of alcohol counseling that will probably cost at least $25.00 an hour and possibly driver risk education courses.

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