Something you don't see every day. A former resident of the state of Illinois, who has 10 previous convictions for driving under the influence (DUI), has been charged with yet another DUI, this time in Fairbanks, Alaska.
A Chicago man was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison for his role in the heroin overdose death of a Wheaton man in a charge of drug-induced homicide, a class X felony offense.
A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling affects Constitutional rights in Illinois and around the country. An anonymous tip can now provide sufficient probable cause to justify a decision by law enforcement officers to stop a vehicle in order to investigate reckless or DUI.
In a very important development to our criminal justice system, the Forensic Science and Standards Act of 2014 is now before the U.S. Senate, and would establish a national forensic science research program designed to improve, expand and coordinate any and all federal research into the forensic sciences.
A comprehensive analysis of the Cook County Pretrial Services Program by the Illinois Supreme Court has proposed 40 recommendations, including a reorganization of how pretrial services is managed, supervised and staffed.
The Illinois Supreme Court, in two related opinions, has declared the state’s criminal eavesdropping law, the 1961 Eavesdropping Act, to be unconstitutional. Illinois criminal lawyer Steve Fagan explains.
A semi-viral video available via YouTube shows a kid sitting at a bus stop in freezing cold weather in Oslo, Norway. While compassion is admirable, residents of the state of Illinois need to be aware of criminal offenses like child abduction and indecent solicitation. Would residents of the state of Illinois act in a similar fashion? Should they act in a similar fashion? Interesting legal questions.
A Jeffersonville, Ind. woman who was sentenced to serve 48 hours in the Clark County Jail, ended up serving 3,696 hours or 154 days. The excuse provided by county officials was that the judge presiding over her case simply forgot to sign the order for her release. A subsequent news report revealed that besides the defendant mentioned above three other people spent months in jail despite being ordered to serve only days or weeks behind bars. Three women and a man, who were participants in the drug court program, reported that they spent months in the county's jail for violations of program rules. The attorneys at Fagan, Fagan & Davis focus on Illinois criminal defense including driving under the influence (DUI) and drug and alcohol related matters throughout Cook County, Lake County and DuPage County. If this individual had been one of our clients, this miscarriage of justice would not have been allowed to continue.
Law enforcement officers need extensive training in how to interaction with persons suffering from a disease or a disability. In the case of a DUI, a diabetic in crisis can mimic signs of impairment from alcohol. A person suffering from deafness or other ear problems may exhibit symptoms an officer can easily misconstrue. Here's an extreme example.
The Christmas and New Year holidays have become associated with stepped up DUI law enforcement efforts. There are other holidays on the horizon such as Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving later in the year. Illinois police departments increasingly make use of DUI roadblocks or checkpoints.
Chicago DUI Strike Force Patrols planned for this weekend, January 10-12, 2014.
The Illinois State Police (ISP) have announced, in a press release, that they intend to conduct a roadside safety check in Cook County starting at 11 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3 and concluding at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4.
The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, a new Illinois law effective Jan. 1, 2014, is a medical marijuana pilot program that makes it legal for people suffering from certain medical conditions to use medical marijuana as a treatment. But the law treats those who qualify very poorly indeed when it comes to an investigation for possible DUI.
A suburban Chicago police chief has announced that his department will be tweeting out the names of persons who have been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI). These individuals have been accused of DUI, not convicted, and are presumed to be innocent of any wrongdoing until proven otherwise. They are about to be victimized by the people charged with serving and protecting the public, and that includes the people they arrest. This will encourage vigilantism, and cost people far more than the legal penalties that our legislature has prescribed, circumventing the legal process in Illinois Courts.
Prior to 1933, there was no law in the state of Illinois governing the legal age for alcohol consumption. Males, in 1933, had to be 21 years of age to consume alcoholic beverages and females had to be 18 years-old.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department has partnered with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois State Police and nearly 250 local law enforcement agencies to conduct roving driving under the influence (DUI) patrols and to seek out seat belt law violators continuing through Thanksgiving weekend.
Please enjoy this glossary of some common legal terms. If you are facing a Criminal, DUI or Traffic Charge in the Greater Chicago area, including Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties, we will review your case with you for free.
A recent criminal case illustrates a problem in criminal courtrooms throughout the country, even Illinois criminal court in the Chicago area. Every defendant has a right to a competent criminal defense lawyer, and that means far more than a warm body with a law degree.
States like Illinois and California are considering legislation that outright prohibits gun ownership or carry permits by those who have been found guilty of DUI. Expect extensive litigation if these moves succeed.
One if you're a woman, two if you're a man. That's how few drinks within an hour it will take for you to be accused of DUI when driving if the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) gets its way. No, that's not a joke. The limit in Illinois used to be 0.15 on a breath alcohol test, then 0...
Cook county criminal court ban on cell phones and electronics begins now.
Chicago DUI fatality arrest leads some to question whether more could have been done to prevent wrong-way driving.
Here they come. Be aware that after you enjoy St. Patrick's day celebrations around Chicago, the city, as well as many municipalities, will be setting up Illinois DUI "Roadside Safety Checkpoints" in strategic locations around the area. Are they legal? That depends on whether the police departm...
When Penelope Soto's video of flipping off the Court went viral, she unwittingly demonstrated one very important lesson - stepping before a Judge in Court without a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago area Courts and elsewhere is a disaster waiting to happen.
We regularly appear for Illinois Criminal defense, DUI defense and Traffic violations throughout the Chicago area including Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane and Will county courts, Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Bridgeview, Markham, Maywood, Waukegan, Wheaton, Naperville, Elgin, St. Charles and more.
