Illinois DUI Law 625 ILCS 5 11-501a3
Illinois DUI Law 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(3) is possibly the most rare section of the code to be used to charge a motorist with driving under the influence. Police and prosecutors can choose to include one or several different sections of the DUI law to charge, depending on the evidence they believe they have. Here we explain this section and how it might be used.
Illinois DUI Law 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(3)
The law generally states that "a person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State ...." and this commonly charged section of the Illinois DUI law explains the rest of this offense:
(3) under the influence of any intoxicating compound or combination of intoxicating compounds to a degree that renders the person incapable of driving safely;
This section of the law is very ambiguous, and perhaps the first thing most people notice is the lack of any mention of alcohol. Illinois DUI law here allows the charging of a motorist based on "any intoxicating compound or combination" of compounds. For instance, we once defended a client who chewed a substance called "khat". Khat, as processed, packaged and sold, contains more than just the plant after which it is named, and the police believed our client's ability to drive safely had been affected by his consumption of the khat. They were not successful in their efforts, but that didn't prevent them from trying.
Of particular note in this section of the law is the requirement that the prosecution be able to prove not only ingestion of a compound (any forensic testing would be of suspect value for many reasons) and the expected effects of that compound, but also that the person's ability to drive safely was so impaired that he or she was "incapable" of driving safely. This difficult hurdle contributes to the fact that this section is the least commonly charged DUI offense. The Illinois DUI law 11-501(a)(3) section may be charged alongside other counts depending on the evidence available to the prosecution.
All DUI cases have a lot of components that merit careful scrutiny by a qualified Illinois DUI lawyer, and one should not immediately assume an arrest requires a guilty plea.
Give us a call to see if we can help with your 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)3 defense.