DUI Urinanalysis: Improper Sample Collection

Published February 3, 2010 Driving Under the Influence Leave a Comment

Case Name: People v. Henry (.pdf)

Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District

Date Decision Filed: 1/19/2010

In this DUI case, a phlebotomist collected the motorist’s urine for testing purposes.   An Illinois regulation provides that “[a] urine sample may be collected by the arresting officer, another law enforcement officer, an agency employee, or a hospital nurse who can authenticate the sample.”  There is no mention of “phlebotomist” in the regulation.   The trial court suppressed the urine-testing results.  The majority opinion of the appellate court remanded the case back to the trial court and ordered it to determine if the regulation was substantially complied with.  “On remand,” said the majority, “the State may rebut the presumption of unreliability with proof that the test results were valid even though the State did not strictly comply with [the regulation].”  The dissenting justice would have reversed (without remand) the ruling of the trial court since, in her view, the list does not exclude unlisted categories of people.

Jeremy Richey

Can I Be Denied a Public Defender?

Published January 24, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Yes — if a judge determines that you make too much money or that your assets are too great, the judge will deny your request for a public defender.   A man of sufficient means has a right to hire his own lawyer, however, a judge will not appoint a public defender to represent him.   A government-provided lawyer is only guaranteed for the indigent (poor).

Jeremy Richey

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A Handsome Fellow

Published January 17, 2010 About Leave a Comment

I recently purchased a digital video camera for the purpose of making videos for my website and perhaps even this blog.   I placed my first attempt at making a video on the “about” page of my website.  If you are dying to know what the real me looks and sounds like, here is your chance.

Jeremy Richey

Defendant Not Permitted to Present Defense

Published January 10, 2010 Driving Under the Influence Leave a Comment

Case Name:  People v. Faint (.pdf)

Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District

Date Decision Filed: 12/18/09

In this case, the trial court found the defendant guilty of DUI, but failed to give the defendant an opportunity to present a defense or give a closing statement!  Unsurprisingly, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s finding of guilty and remanded the case for a new trial.  It seems that the “DUI exception” to the Constitution does have its limits.

Jeremy Richey

DWLS Not Included in Aggravated DUI

Published January 3, 2010 Driving Under the Influence Closed

Case Name:  People v. Eastin (.pdf)

Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District

Date Decision Filed: 12/23/09

In this case, the appellate court discussed whether driving with a suspended license is a lesser-included offense of aggravated DUI when the reason for elevation of the DUI to aggravated DUI is that the DUI occurred while the defendant had a suspended license.  The appellate court held that it is not a lesser-included offense.  The crime is DUI; the aggravating factor (suspended license) is a sentencing matter and not an element of the crime.

Jeremy Richey

No Prosecutors For Hire

Published December 27, 2009 Prosecutors Closed

Every once in a while someone will ask me if I prosecute criminal cases in addition to defending them.  This question comes up enough (albeit infrequently) that I thought I would address it on this blog.  The people asking this usually think that a private-practice lawyer can be hired to either prosecute or defend criminal cases.  This is not true in Illinois.   The government, primarily via the state’s attorney’s office in each county, prosecutes cases; victims cannot hire lawyers to press charges.  Now, the government may employ private-sector lawyers (e.g., part-time prosecutors), however, it is still the government prosecuting the cases and not hired guns.

Jeremy Richey

Field Sobriety: No Expert Testimony Needed

Published December 21, 2009 Driving Under the Influence Closed

Case Name: People v. Hires (.pdf)

Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District

Date Decision Filed: 12/08/09

In this case, the State charged the defendant with Aggravated DUI because the defendant had eight prior DUI convictions.   The defendant did not submit to chemical testing, so the evidence consisted of the arresting officer’s observations of the defendant prior to and after the officer stopped the defendant’s vehicle.   The defendant challenged his conviction based on the sufficiency of the evidence and based on the unreliability of the field-sobriety tests administered to him.  The Court rejected both arguments.   The Court rejected the defendant’s sufficiency of the evidence challenge because “a rational jury could reasonably have inferred that [the] defendant’s erratic driving, slurred speech, and poor coordination stemmed from intoxication.”  The Court rejected the defendant’s field-sobriety argument because the jury, on its own, was able to evaluate the field-sobriety evidence without the assistance of an expert.  It also should be noted that the defendant received a 24-year sentence in prison for this DUI conviction (again, this was his ninth DUI conviction).

Jeremy Richey

Edgar County Courthouse

Published December 15, 2009 Courthouses Closed
Edgar County Courthouse

Edgar County Courthouse -- photo taken 12/14/2009

Address

The address of the Edgar County Courthouse is 115 W. Court St., Paris, IL 61944.   There are not any security checkpoints to pass through when entering the courthouse.

Courtroom Locations

Courtroom “2″ is located on the first floor of the courthouse.  Courtroom “1″ is located on the second floor of the courthouse.

Hours

The courthouse is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Jeremy Richey

Joe Arpaio: America’s No. 1 Domestic Enemy?

Published December 10, 2009 Uncategorized Closed

There isn’t much that I can say about the sheriff for Maricopa County, Arizona that hasn’t been said elsewhere.   Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I am more than happy to shine my little light on the darkness in Maricopa County.  If you have no idea of what Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been up to in Maricopa County, here is a good place to start getting up to speed.

Jeremy Richey

Two Counts of DUI

Published November 28, 2009 Driving Under the Influence 1 Comment

I was arrested for DUI and I received two tickets.  Is that bad?

It is bad that you were arrested for DUI, however, you should not be concerned about receiving two citations.  Whenever a person is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and blows .08 or over, the police issue two citations.  One citation will allege a violation of the .08 law (625 ILCS 5/11‑501(a)(1)) and the other will allege a DUI violation without regard to the BAC of the driver (625 ILCS 5/11‑501(a)(2)).  The circuit clerk will file both of these citations under a single DUI case number and each citation will be a separate count of DUI under that DUI case number.   So, if you blew .08 or over and received two citations, the police officer wasn’t punishing you by writing two citations; the officer was simply proceeding in the manner that officers usually proceed in this type of case.

Jeremy Richey

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Jeremy J. Richey, Attorney at Law
© Jeremy J. Richey and The East Central Illinois Criminal Law & DUI Weblog, 2008-2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.