There is a law in Illinois that supposedly outlaws quotas for traffic tickets, but that may not be the whole story. Many Illinois police departments apply for federal funds to pay for extra DUI patrols and roadblocks. To get the money, the police must make a minimum amount of DUI arrests so the pressure is on! In Massachusetts, the police officers would receive over $100,00 per year in overtime alone by setting up speed traps and cheating. 

Read the below from http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/66/6676.asp#source

If you or a loved one were stopped at a DUI checkpoint then it is possible that you were also a victim here in Illinois. Call Ramsell & Kunowski, L.L.C. at 630-665-8780.

As you might well imagine, the penalty for the second DUI drugs conviction is harsher than the first! This should become an active and contentious area of the law both in Illinois and nationwide as at least marijuana use is becoming legal on a state by state basis and is being touted as an appropriate substitute for lawfully prescribed opiates for pain relief.

Illinois’ new governor, J.B. Pritzker, is not only in favor of marijuana legalization, but he is also considering signing legislation someday that even allows for home growth of marijuana plants, possibly up to a cap of five marijuana plants per household! This is despite the fact federal law still prohibits marijuana use except in extremely proscribed circumstances such as those who suffer from glaucoma. Regardless, the second DUI drugs conviction statutorily mandates the following below….

A second DUI conviction at the class A Misdemeanor level carries a MANDATORY minimum imprisonment of 5 days or 240 hours of community service, revocation of driving privileges for a minimum of five years for a second conviction within 20 years of the first and suspension of vehicle registration. Also, if the second conviction is committed with a blood alcohol content of .16 or greater, in addition to any other penalties or fines, mandatory imprisonment of 2 days and a minimum fine of $1250.

REGARDLESS, THESE ARE INTENSELY FACT SPECIFIC SITUATIONS SO DON’T TRY TO SORT THIS OUT YOURSELF, CALL YOUR PREMIER DUI DEFENSE TEAM OF Ramsell & Kunowski, L.L.C. AT 630-665-8780 IMMEDIATELY FOR A FREE, NO OBLIGATION ATTORNEY CONSULTATION!

Virtually all experts concede that one breath test is unreliable in DUI cases. However, in Illinois, only ONE breath test reading at a police station is required!

The Illinois Supreme Court has remarked that breathalyzers are not foolproof. This concession by Illinois’ highest court has been the law of the state of Illinois for over 30 years. People v. Orth is considered THE authoritative case on summary suspension law and what is needed for the prosecution to lay the foundation for a breath test at a criminal trial. Orth was decided back in 1988. 

Originally, breath test rules were made by the Illinois Department of Public Health. After years of litigation and some discoveries from THIS FIRM at trials, rule making authority for breath testing passed to the Illinois State Police. Yes, the very same people trying to obtain arrests, guilty pleas, and convictions get to decide the rules on what needs to be followed for a breath test. Even with this being the case, there are many times where police officers do not follow the Illinois State Police regulations found in the Illinois Administrative Code.

If all of the above issues were not enough for reasonable doubt, breath testing itself is subject to various inaccuracies. First, it is pure and undisputed science that there is a level of uncertainty when measuring anything. The level of uncertainty when measuring something is called the uncertainty (or Heisenberg) principle. Second, Illinois State Police’s own guidelines allow for a plus or minus 12.5% variance when calibrating breath test machines. Next, breath test machines are “self checked” for accuracy by computer and almost never in person. Last, breath test machines are not specific for ethanol, meaning types of artificial sweeteners, yeast, and mints can all trigger an artificially high breath test reading. If someone has a supposed breath reading of .08 or .09, these inaccuracies can prove to be helpful in obtaining a not guilty verdict!

For other information on how breath testing is inaccurate, contact Ramsell & Kunowski, L.L.C. today to see how any and all of these factors can play a role in YOUR DuPage County DUI defense!

Imagine a world without standardization. What if Illinois posted its speed limits on roads strictly in metric terms and Indiana in standard ones? What if each of the fifty states had its own unique form of currency? 

To prevent unequal application of field sobriety tests across these United States, the federal government, through its administrative agency the United States Department of Transportation, promulgated uniform tests known colloquially as the HGN, WAT, and OLS. The idea is to make sure everyone in the country gets the identical testing and it does not vary from city to city, state to state, or region to region.  

Thus, if anyone attempts to offer a field sobriety test that is anything other than the official standardized ones, they are per se invalid no matter what an officer may tell you. These invalid variants can be saying the alphabet backwards, closing your eyes and touching the tip of your nose with an index finger, or any other crazy thing some lawman can make up. The point is, unless the test is from the United States Department of Transportation promulgated battery of tests, they are invalid.

WE ARE NOT, HOWEVER, GIVING YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL ADVICE OR ENCOURAGING YOU TO REFUSE POLICE INSTRUCTIONS OR ORDERS! If you have been arrested, don’t try to wonder what part of your arrest comports with the correct laws and regulations, CALL YOUR WHEATON DUI DEFENSE TEAM AT Ramsell & Kunowski, L.L.C. at 630-665-8780 IMMEDIATELY FOR A FREE, NO OBLIGATION ATTORNEY CONSULTATION!

Those of us of a certain vintage can remember old depictions of DUI investigations such as from United States Department of Transportation public service shorts featuring the likes of actor Dana Andrews and from TV and the movies where lawmen seemingly decided a driver’s sobriety by made up and widely different on the spot tests.

To avoid this scenario of different tests and presumably different results, field sobriety tests for alcohol have been standardized nationwide into the basic three: horizontal gaze nystagmus, nine step walk and turn, and one leg stand. Thus, if an officer deviates from the standard tests and asks you to close your eyes, tilt your head back, and touch the tip of your nose with each of your index fingers, that is a per se invalid test, as it is not among the standard three. Likewise, if a policeman asks you to recite the Gettysburg Address or the alphabet backwards, those too are per se invalid. Even if in haste, you tell the policeman, “Take me drunk ossifer, I’m home!” relying on that alone to judge a man impaired by alcohol would be a deviation from the standard tests and invalid. 

Regardless, these nonstandard tests can, in some instances, be used as persuasive but not controlling evidence of impairment, so do not rack your brain trying to figure out if your arrest was standard versus atypical, call the Wheaton DUI defense professionals at Ramsell & Kunowski, L.L.C. LLC and come in immediately for your free, no obligation attorney consultation!