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What are My Rights If I am Pulled Over During an Illinois Traffic Stop?
Traffic stops are one of the most common ways that police come into contact with the general public. According to data from the Stanford Open Policing Project, there were more than 12.7 million traffic stops conducted by state police in Illinois between 2011 and 2017. There are dozens of reasons why a police officer would want to pull you over. Maybe your tail light is out or you forgot to signal a lane change. Maybe the officer noticed that you were on your cell phone while you were driving. Maybe the officer suspects you are driving under the influence because your driving was erratic. Whatever the reason, there are certain rights that you have when you are pulled over by police.
Police Must Have Reasonable Suspicion
If an officer pulls you over, they must have a reason for doing so. It is not lawful for an officer to perform a traffic stop for no reason. It is a violation of your Constitutional rights if they perform a stop without having reasonable suspicion that you were committing a crime.
DUI FAQs
Knowledgeable Illinois Criminal Defense Attorney Assisting Clients Throughout Cook and DuPage Counties
Facing DUI charges can be overwhelming, regardless of whether you’ve been through the process before. If you have recently been charged with a DUI, one of the best ways to get a handle on the situation is to learn more about the process, what defenses you may have, and what you are looking at if you are convicted. Below is a list of DUI FAQs that can help provide you with a little bit of certainty during this undoubtedly stressful time.
Will I Go to Jail for an Illinois DUI?
The sentence for an Illinois DUI conviction may include a jail sentence; however, in most situations, it’s a decision that is left up to the judge. For example, a first-time DUI offense in Illinois is usually a class A misdemeanor, which carries the possibility of up to a year in jail. However, it is common for judges to order supervision or probation in lieu of incarceration. However, if you have a prior DUI on your record or you are charged with a felony DUI offense, you’ll likely face mandatory jail time or community service.
What is the Difference Between Burglary, Theft, and Robbery?
Most of us know that it is wrong to take something from someone without asking. Not only is it not nice, but it is also illegal. You have heard the terms "theft," "robbery," and "burglary" before, but many people use them interchangeably. In reality, these words are three different things in the legal world. They each have their own definitions and their own punishments if you are convicted of them. While these three crimes all do involve the unlawful taking of property, the differences lie in the circumstances around how the property was taken.
Theft
General theft is a crime that occurs when a person obtains control over property without the authorization of that property’s owner. Theft crimes vary in seriousness depending on the value of the property taken and where it was taken from. For example, property that was taken that is valued at less than $500 is charged as a Class A misdemeanor. If that property was taken from a place of worship or belonged to the government, the crime is elevated to a Class 4 felony. Depending on the circumstances of the crime, theft can carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
Understanding Illinois Reckless Driving Charges
Most American drivers will be pulled over by police at least once in their lifetime. Most of the time, the reason you are pulled over is because of a small moving violation, like speeding or not fully stopping at a stop sign. These stops usually end with the officer issuing you a ticket that carries a fine that you must pay within a specific time period. In other situations, the officer may arrest you because they feel that you have done something too serious to warrant just a fine. Offenses of this nature can be driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, street racing or what is called reckless driving.
What is Reckless Driving?
The Illinois Vehicle Code states that reckless driving occurs when a person drives his or her vehicle with "willful and wanton disregard" for the safety of other drivers or other people’s property. It also states that reckless driving can occur if a person drives a vehicle and uses an incline such as a railroad crossing, hill or bridge approach to cause the vehicle to become airborne.
Alcohol and Minors: Never a Good Mix in Illinois
It is not uncommon for teenagers to get in trouble with the law. When they do, the offenses they are known for committing are usually minor, yet serious offenses like theft, vandalism and traffic violations. One of the most common reasons teenagers get in trouble with the law is because of alcohol-related offenses. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, you are required to be at least 21 years old to legally possess, purchase and/or consume alcohol. If you are caught drinking while under the age of 21, or if you are caught providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21, you could be facing serious fines and other consequences that could follow you for the rest of your life.
Possession or Consumption of Alcohol by a Person Under the age of 21
In Illinois, consequences of underage drinking vary, but the person will likely be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. This means the person could face up to one year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines. Additionally, that person’s driving privileges will be affected. If they receive court supervision, their license will be suspended for three months. If they are convicted, their license will be suspended for six months.
Can I File a Lawsuit if I get Sick from Eating a Food Product?
When you purchase food at a restaurant or grocery store, you should be able to expect that the product is safe to eat. Even though there are stringent inspection processes for food in the United States, sometimes there is still food on the market that can pose a health threat to those who consume it. There are hundreds of different types of foodborne diseases that can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites, most of which can be prevented through proper storage, handling and cooking. If you get sick from consuming food from a restaurant or grocery store, you may be able to hold the manufacturer or supplier responsible.
Recent Listeria Outbreak Prompts Recall
Last week, Almark Foods issued a recall on all of its hard-boiled egg products over concerns of listeria contamination. The Food and Drug Administration linked the hard-boiled egg products that were produced from the company’s Gainesville, Georgia, plant with a listeria outbreak that affected people from five different states and killed one person in Texas. The egg products were sold under various brand names and at various retailers, including Trader Joe’s, Giant Eagle, Kroger, and Walmart.
Do not get Caught Driving With a Suspended or Revoked License
Illinois law provides for a variety of ways that you could lose your driving privileges, some of which may not even be related to driving at all. Fleeing from a police officer, incurring too many traffic violations, not paying traffic tickets or even not paying child support can result in a driver’s license suspension or revocation. Perhaps one of the most common reasons why a person loses their license is because they were arrested or convicted of driving a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In Illinois, DUI convictions are serious and the penalties are too. Not only do you face jail time and expensive fines, but you also face losing your driving privileges. What can be just as serious, however, is driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license.
Criminal Charges for Driving With a Suspension or Revocation
Many people believe that driving while your license has been suspended or revoked is punished simply as a traffic ticket. In reality, if you are caught driving with a suspended or revoked license, you will be charged with a criminal offense, which is much more serious than just getting a ticket. If your license is suspended or revoked because of a DUI charge, the following penalties apply:
How Failing a Field Sobriety Test Can Lead to a DUI Charge
When an Illinois police officer suspects you of DUI, you may be asked to take one or more field sobriety tests. By law you do not have to agree to such tests. Moreover, if you take a test and "fail," based on the officer's judgment, it may be used against you as evidence in court.
Court Rejects Peoria Officer's Arrest Based on HGN Test
However, not all field sobriety tests are afforded the same weight by judges. Nor does failure necessarily prove that you were intoxicated above the legal limit in Illinois. Therefore, it is important to challenge any test result that may be inaccurate or improperly administered by the police.
Consider a recent DUI case from Peoria County. The defendant was riding his motorcycle when he crashed. A local police officer responded at the scene and cited the defendant for numerous traffic violations and charged him with DUI.
The basis for the DUI arrest was a common field sobriety test known as a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN). You have probably seen this test before: It is when a police officer flashes a penlight in your eyes and asks you to follow the light as it moves. Normally, if you look sideways at an angle greater than 45 degrees, your eyes automatically twitch. But if you have alcohol in your system, a twitch can occur when the light is held at less than a 45-degree angle.
How Does The use of Weapons Change Illinois Assault and Battery Charges?
Some of the most serious types of crimes are those that involve harming another person in some way, such as assault or battery. Some people may think they mean the same thing, but they are actually two different charges that are often committed together. As with many other crimes, assault and battery charges can change in severity depending on whether or not weapons were used in the commission of the crime. In almost all cases that involve the use of a weapon during an assault or battery, the crime is considered to be "aggravated" and the consequences are increased.
Weapons and Aggravated Assault
Assault occurs when you do something that causes another person to believe that you will physically harm them. When the assault involves the use of a weapon, this is considered an aggravated assault. If you use a weapon during the assault and you do not discharge that weapon, you will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in up to one year in prison and up to $2,500 in fines. If you do discharge the weapon, you will be charged with a Class 4 felony, which can result in up to three years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
Defending Against Assault and Battery Charges: Claiming Self Defense
One of the most common defenses people use when they are fighting assault and/or battery charges is claiming that they were acting in self-defense. In some situations, this may be a legitimate defense, but many people do not realize that there are certain elements that must be proven if you want to succeed with a claim of self-defense.
Illinois recognizes that there are certain situations that citizens may be put into that require the use of force against another person. Because of this, there are stipulations in the Criminal Code of 2012 that allow a person to use force against another person, as long as it is legally justifiable. If you plan to use self-defense as your claim against assault and/or battery charges, you need an attorney who has experience with self-defense claims.
Illinois Self Defense Laws
The Illinois Criminal Code of 2012 states that people can legally use force against others if they reasonably believe that the use of force is necessary to protect themselves or someone else against a person’s use of unlawful force. This means that you are permitted to use force against another person as long as it was actually necessary and you had no other way of protecting yourself.
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