DUI Miranda Rights in Illinois

Reader’s Question:

The Miranda warnings are very popular statements of the police during an arrest and I don’t know what happens if they forget to say it during a DUI arrest. What if the officer fails to read me my rights if in case I get arrested for DUI here in Champaign, Illinois?

Laquita

Champaign, IL

There is often a common misconception about the failure of a police officer to read a person his/her Miranda rights (i.e., “You have the right to remain silent, you have a right to an attorney”) during a DUI arrest. Unfortunately, if you get arrested for DUI in Champaign, Illinois and the police officer failed to read you your Miranda rights, the DUI case will not be dismissed. These Miranda warnings would only affect the admissibility of statements made by a DUI suspect after he/she is arrested.

For example, if an individual is stopped over because his tail lights are not working and he tells the police officer, “I’m drunk as a skunk and I never should have been driving,” this could be used against the person because the person is not arrested or in custody. But if the individual is in handcuffs and, answering the police officer’s questions says, “I was drunk as a skunk and never should have been driving,” the police could not use this statement unless they have read the person his/her Miranda rights.

How Important Is It To Have a DUI Lawyer in Chicago Illinois?

Reader’s Question:

I have to admit that it’s not easy having a DUI charge here in Chicago, Illinois. How important is having a DUI lawyer to help me in my case?

Ray

Chicago, IL

You have to keep in mind that DUI is one of the few crimes that a person could be convicted solely on the opinion of the police officer. Even if most DUI offenses are classified as misdemeanors, the penalties for it are generally much more serious. If you choose to hire a DUI lawyer to help you in your DUI case in Chicago, Illinois, you need an experienced DUI lawyer to represent you in your DUI case to make sure that you get the best possible defense you can.

In hiring a DUI lawyer, there are certain things that you need to take note of to ensure that you get the best quality. The DUI lawyer should be up-to-date on the practices and guidelines in a DUI defense in Illinois. You need a lawyer who attends seminars presented by the National College for DUI Defense and have spent time learning advanced DUI Defense tactics from some of the leading DUI lawyers in the country. The DUI lawyer should also be willing to fight for your case not just a lawyer who will plead you out. Best of all, an experienced DUI lawyer is actually the one who could be able to save your job, driver’s license and freedom.

DUI Field Sobriety Tests in Illinois

Reader’s Question:

If in case I am stopped for DUI in Arlington Heights, Illinois, what do you think I should do if a police officer asks me to watch his pen or do physical agility tests?

Herman

Arlington Heights, IL

You have to remember that if you are stopped for DUI in Arlington Heights, Illinois, you don’t have an obligation whatsoever to submit to any physical tests like watching a pen, walking a line or balancing on one leg. There would be no legal penalty for refusing these kinds of tests. The officer might tell you that you will be arrested if you refuse to do the tests and don’t fall for a line like that. You could be arrested when you refuse, but the police officer has already decided to arrest you before he asked you to do the tests. It could help a lot in your DUI defense if you politely and respectfully decline the tests prior to consulting with a lawyer.

Regardless of how well you might think you would do on the tests, you would learn you failed the tests. Even police officers who have already done the tests hundreds of times fail to administer the tests by the book. If the police officer asks you to perform the tests for him, politely tell the officer that you should speak to a lawyer before deciding if you would perform any test the officer might ask you.

Illinois DUI Traffic Stop – Why Was I Stopped?

Reader’s Question:

When I was arrested for DUI here in Evanston, Illinois, I really didn’t understand why the officer asked me to pull over. I don’t remember that I committed any traffic violation. What are the possible reasons why an officer could ask a driver to pull over because of a DUI suspicion?

Bonnie

Evanston, IL

On your DUI arrest in Evanston,, the police officer should have had a ‘reasonable suspicion’ to pull you over. It may constitute a ‘reasonable suspicion’ if the police officer observed that your vehicle was swerving over lanes. Similarly, if you were driving with a broken headlight, broken taillight, driving too fast or even with your high-beams on (in traffic), that could also be sufficient ‘reasonable suspicion’ to pull you over. But if after an investigation of your DUI case that it is discovered that your broken taillight was nothing more than a crack in the red plastic, or if you were driving with your high-beams on and a significant distance from other vehicles, the DUI stop would be considered illegal and an appropriate motion to suppress and could result in an order excluding all evidence after the illegal stop.

The evidence that can be excluded would be the police officer’s observations, breath test results, field sobriety tests and anything else that the state attorney might rely on to obtain a conviction. It has also been found that minor swerving within lanes could be an insufficient reason for an officer to stop your vehicle. Similarly, since newer vehicles are equipped with three or more tail lights, a DUI stop for a malfunctioning tail light is improper if two of the three tail lights on your vehicle were operating properly

Possible Illinois DUI Defenses?

Reader’s Question:

My cousin is thinking about getting a DUI lawyer to help him on his DUI charge in Illinois. What are the possible defenses that he can use on his DUI case?

Floyd

Skokie, IL

There are a lot of challenges and defenses that your cousin could use on his DUI case in Illinois. So let’s start with the challenges to the DUI stop. First of all, he can use as a defense that the officer didn’t have a valid reason to pull your cousin over or no police officer actually saw your cousin driving. Another defense is with regard to the challenges on probable cause to arrest your cousin if the officer didn’t have enough reason to arrest and if the officer didn’t use proper technique and graded him unfairly.

Next are the motions to suppress evidence like if the Miranda Fifth Amendment rights were violated and if your cousin was not warned of his implied consent rights. Evidence can also be suppressed if the police officer searched the vehicle illegally and coerced your cousin into performing field sobriety tests. The police officer could have manufactured the evidence and a good DUI lawyer can definitely find out about it.

Illinois Drunk Driving DUI Arrest – What Are The Signs?

Reader’s Question:

I have never been arrested for drunk driving here in Illinois because I actually don’t drink and drive. But I’ve been following some news and information about DUI because a friend of mine has been convicted before. I just wanna know, what signs are the police officers looking for if they ask a driver to pull over because of a DUI suspicion?

Joe

Aurora, IL

Usually, in Illinois, a driver is asked to pull over because of a DUI suspicion if he/she is drifting between lanes, swerving erratically while driving, making excessively wide turns, driving at extremely high or low speeds or stopping abruptly for no reason. But once the driver already stopped, the police officer is often looking for some signs which are commonly associated with drunkenness or illegal drug use. These signs are often exhibited by drivers who are drunk driving, have taken medications before or while driving and/or have taken illegal drugs.

If a driver is asked to pull over, the characteristics or signs that police officers usually look for in a driver suspected for driving under the influence are as follows:
-a face which is flushed, reddened, blank or expressionless
-jerky eye movements
-eyes which are watery or red
-slurred speech
-slow to react
-poor coordination or poor balance
-irritability
-slow recall or memory
-tiredness or fatigue
-nausea / vomiting
-excessive sweating

Convicted of Drunk Driving In Illinois?

Reader’s Question:

I know someone who has been charged with DUI here in Illinois. He’s in trial right now and by the looks of it, he will be convicted but he’s lawyer is doing everything to at least shorten the jail time and reduce the fines. I wanna make sure that the same thing will not happen to me. I don’t deny that I have been drunk or maybe drove under the influence of alcohol once or twice. What advice could you give me if I will be caught drunk driving?

Jackie

Springfield, IL

It is unlawful to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Illinois. It is strongly advised that people should not drive alone while in an intoxicated condition. Drivers who are caught doing this are charged with a criminal offense. It is very important that you know what to do if you are stopped by a patrol officer on a DUI suspicion.

In case you can’t avoid drinking and getting behind the wheel, you should have a favorable witness along with you in your car. Eye drops should be applied to mask bloodshot eyes, which strongly imply a person’s drunken condition. If you will be caught drunk driving, you should not take a portable breath test or any field sobriety tests (FST) while in an intoxicated condition because you are not required by law to do so. You should also indicate that you are confused about your legal rights. You should be advised by the officer to ask for a lawyer before questioning and after Miranda warnings are given. You should not information as to how much you have been drinking and what you were drinking. All implied consent warnings should be fully read to you by the police officer. You should also be polite and courteous regardless of how rude a police officer may be towards you. While blowing into the Breath analyzer, you should not blow hard because blowing hard may reflect a higher than normal reading.

Lastly, if in any unavoidable circumstance that you will be charged with DUI, make sure that you consult and hire an experienced Illinois DUI lawyer to give you detailed advice, to represent you, and to make sure everything will be done for you to avoid serving in jail and hefty fines.

Stopped For Drunk Driving in Illinois – DUI Eye Test?

Reader’s Question:

When the Illinois officer stopped me one time when I was driving I noticed that the officer made me to follow a penlight with my eyes to the left and right? Why is that?

Elena

Chicago, IL

Hi Elena, the test that the police officers performed when they stopped you in Illinois is called the horizontal gaze Nystagmus test. For quite sometime, Illinois police officers have utilized definite voluntary tests to decide probable intoxication of drivers stopped on suspicion of a DUI. The tests mottled widely in the past. No research was accessible to establish the fairness of these tests in knowing the level of intoxication. The Illinois National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration explored these tests in 1977 and 1981 and determined a satisfactory test that could fairly dependable to know a driver’s intoxication level.The Nystagmus test is a practically a recent improvement in DUI investigation. The Louisiana police officer will make an effort to make an educated guess the position at which the eye begins to jerk; if this happens sooner than forty five degrees, it hypothetically designates a blood alcohol level over .05%. The smoothness of the eye’s tracking the penlight is also a factor, as is the kind of jerking when the eye is as distant to the side as it can go.This field sobriety test has established to be questioned to a number of different harms, not the slightest of which is the non-medically skilled officer’s skill to be familiar with Nystagmus and calculate approximately the angle of onset. Because of this, and the reality that the test is not established by the health community, it is not allowable in many states; it is, still, allowable in Illinois.

Can I Call a DWI Attorney in Chicago From Jail?

Reader’s Question:

When I’m taken to the police station because of DWI arrest in Chicago Illinois, do I have a right to a lawyer or a phone call?

Joseph

Thank you for asking Joseph.

You may and should ask to see or call an attorney as soon as you arrive at the police station since you are now under arrest—where anything you say might be used against you—you should not say anything without a lawyer present or until you have talked to an attorney.

In Illinois, within a reasonable time after your arrest or booking at the jail, you have the right to make a local phone call to an attorney, bail bondsman and/or any relative or other person. The police may not listen to the call to the lawyer and any communications made to your attorney. Your call should be discrete and made in such a way that you cannot be overheard by any other person or police officer. Make sure you pay attention to your surroundings when you make the call and notice if the police or anyone else can overhear the conversation.

Goodluck!

MariCAR