subject: Every Lawyer's Guide to DUI [print this page] "Field Sobriety Tests in Illinois may be rejected without penalty, and the risk of an erroneous interpretation by an officer far outweigh the benefits of performing them."
This article does not give DUI practitioners a general overview of the DUI laws, describes how a DUI arrest occurs, and provides general information to help you answer that question too often asked by customers and others: "What should I do if I ' m was DUI? "
To begin, note that there are two basic partsa DUI, the summary suspension and criminal prosecution.
The criminal charge
"DUI" stands for "Driving under the influence" of alcohol, drugs or a combination thereof. 625 ILCS 5/11-501. The penalty for a first time DUI is a Class A criminal offense with imprisonment of up to 365 days in jail and / or a $ 2500 fine. There are four basic elements of DUI:
Driving or actual physical control
for a vehicle
anywhere in the state
under the influence ofAlcohol and / or drugs.
Let's look at the first three elements individually.
"Driving or actual physical control." The phrase "driving or actual physical control" means that a person get a DUI, perhaps he or she is simply sleeping or sitting in a parked car. See, eg, City of Naperville v Watson, 175 Ill 2d 399, 677 NE2d 955 (1997). Whether a person in actual physical control is a matter of fact. Courts look at factors such as ownership, whether the subject hasKey if the key in ignition, whether the object is in the driver if he or she owns the vehicle where the vehicle is located, etc., to determine the actual physical control. See, eg, People v Brown, 175 Ill App 3d 676, 530 NE2d 74 (2d D 1998).
In addition, the police must prove you do not respect the person in the car that he or she is physically in control "to". Evidence as the only person walking on a lonely street one block from a car inTrench may be sufficient to be determined actual physical control or recent projects. People v Jones, 198 Ill App 3d 572, 555 NE2d 1143 (3d D 1990).
"From each vehicle." In Illinois, a vehicle is defined as "[e] very device in, may be carried on or through any person or property or, or hauled on a highway, except devices moved by human power, devices used exclusively on stationary rails or Title and snowmobiles. "625 ILCS 5/1-217.
Thus, cars, motorcycles, mopeds and even electricScooters are considered vehicles. In fact, even a horse can be considered vehicles. See 625 ILCS 5/11-206.
The fact that a vehicle is inoperable no defense, if it is granted, a junk certificate and falls under the definition of junk vehicle under 625 ILCS 5/1-134.1. People v Cummings, 176 Ill App 3d 293, 530 NE2d 672 (3d D 1988).
"Everywhere in the state." It is no defense to the criminal charge of DUI, that the car is not on a highway. ( "But I was in my parkeddriveway!") People v Guynn, 33 Ill App 3d 736, 338 NE2d 239 (3d D 1975).
The summary suspension
In Illinois, drivers may receive up-front (i.e., beginning on the 46th day following arrest) suspension of their driving privileges if they are arrested for a criminal DUI and then score a .08 or greater on a breath/blood test or have illegal drugs in their system, or if they refuse chemical testing. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1.
