Can the officer do that? What are your rights?

Generally, police can search your car without a warrant and before an arrest as long as they have probable cause to believe your car contains illegal articles such as drugs, weapons or burglary tools. Police can search anywhere in your vehicle, even by opening containers. Be advised that making “furtive”movements may be enough to trigger that probable cause, particularly if you look like you’re trying to hide something.

Unfortunately, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have chipped away at the rights of drivers to guard against police searches. The Supreme Court recently held that you do not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in contraband. For example, police are now allowed to have a trained dog sniff your car for narcotics during a traffic stop without your consent because you have no privacy right in possessing illegal substances.

Furthermore, under recent Supreme Court law, police do not need a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in order to question you about topics unrelated to your traffic stop as long as this questioning does not unduly prolong the time you are stopped. Before this decision, police could not change the fundamental nature of a traffic stop by questioning you on unrelated matters without this reasonable suspicion, but this protection was overturned.

If you are stopped by police, an officer should, but may not always, ask if he or she can search your car. You should always refuse any request to search. The officer may continue the search even without your consent. Your refusal, however, may later help your attorney bring a motion to quash the evidence turned up by the search.

You should also refrain from speaking to the police or answering any questions except about your name and address.

Once you have been arrested, the police may search the parts of your car that you could access if they reasonably believe they may find evidence related to the crime. If you are arrested for speeding, the police may lack the justification they need to search your passenger compartment, but if you are arrested for DUI, the police can search for alcohol.
If you have questions about this or another criminal law matter, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or matt@mattkeenanlaw.com

See our related post on our DUI blog at Can the Police Search My Car? Your Rights During a Traffic Stop?”.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves clients in the communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Palatine, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post CAN THEY SEARCH MY CAR? YOUR RIGHTS DURING A TRAFFIC STOP (BEFORE AN ARREST) appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.

In Illinois, the first offense of Driving Under the Influence may be punishable with up to one year in jail or up to a $2,500 fine. If you are charged with DUI, the State must prove two elements beyond a reasonable doubt: 1) Drinking and 2) Driving.

To prove drinking, the State must show that you were over the legal limit of .08, and that this impaired your driving. The first question is whether you took the breathalyzer. If you were wise, you may have refused. If you refused, did you then perform any field sobriety tests? If not, you could still be charged with a DUI based on what the police observed, but it may be that much harder for the State to prove your impairment at trial.

Suppose you turned down the breathalyzer but you performed the field sobriety tests? You may still have a defendable case. Many police cars now video their encounters with potential offenders. After watching the video, how well did you perform? Some defendants manage to hold their leg up fairly steadily and to walk a fairly straight line. If you did well, the state might have a tough time proving you were guilty of DUI.

What if you took the breathalyzer and blew over the limit? If you did not blow too far above .08 legal limit and/or your field sobriety tests looked good, you may still be able to defend your case. The state must show that your driving was impaired. If everything else looks good including your driving when the police pulled you over, then you might still win. Furthermore, in the State of Illinois, a breathalyzer machine is considered accurate if it registers within .009 of the actual result. Therefore, if you blew a .087, there may be some question about whether you or the breathalyzer device were over the limit.

What if your breathalyzer result was way over the legal limit? Then, you may still have a defense based on the element of driving. How were you pulled over? Did the police have probable cause to stop you? If you were obeying all traffic laws and you were the target of a random stop, you may be able to quash your DUI based on a lack of probable cause.

What if you were in an accident and the police were summoned after the crash? Someone has to testify that you were behind the wheel of the car. The state will have a harder time proving your DUI if no one actually saw you driving the car.

But what if the police legitimately followed you and observed you commit a traffic offense such as blowing a stop sign or weaving all over the lane? And then you blew a high breathalyzer and trashed your field sobriety tests? At this point, your case may no longer beatable. A skilled attorney, however, may help you negotiate a more favorable plea agreement.

If you have questions about a DUI or other criminal matter in the Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood or other Chicago-area courthouse, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or by emailing matt@mattkeenanlaw.com. Also, visit our website at http://www.mattkeenanlaw.com or our DUI blog http://duilawyerskokie.com

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves clients in the communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Palatine, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post HOW TO DEFEND YOUR COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS DUI appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.

In Illinois, you can lose your commercial driver’s license (CDL) for at least one year if you are stopped for certain driving-related offenses, even if you weren’t in a CMV at the time! You may be penalized for refusing a breath or blood test, having blood alcohol of at least .04 when driving a CMV or at least .08 when driving a non-CMV. Furthermore, your CDL can be suspended if you knowingly leave the scene of an accident, commit a felony when driving any vehicle or if you drive a CMV on a revoked or suspended license. If you were driving hazardous materials when any of the above happened, you can lose your CDL for at least 3 years.

If you are convicted a second time, you can say good bye to your CDL for life, although the Secretary of State can under certain circumstances reduce the suspension to a period of 10 years.

Even less severe traffic offenses can play havoc with your CDL. You can lose your CDL for at least two months if you receive convictions for two serious traffic violations (such as speeding) within three years, and for at least four months if you have three convictions in three years, even though you weren’t driving a CMV at the time

If you continue to drive a CMV after the Secretary of State has issued an “out of service” order suspending your CDL, you can receive additional suspension penalties.

If you are stopped for any traffic-related offense, you should not speak about the incident to the police or anyone else, and you should contact an attorney immediately to discuss your options. It is critical that you rigorously pursue any defense you might have if you wish to maintain your CDL. The State still has the burden of proof to show that you were guilty of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. An attorney can help expose weaknesses in the state’s case. Even if your case seems hopeless, an experienced attorney may be able to work out a plea arrangement for a lesser offense, with a shorter suspension time.

If you are threatened with the loss of your CDL or have other questions, feel free to contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

See our related DUI blog at http://duilawyerskokie.com.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves clients in the communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Palatine, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post “BUT I’LL LOSE MY JOB!:” TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS AND THE COMMERCIAL DRIVERS LICENSE appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.

In Illinois, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident resulting in personal injury or death, you must immediately stop at the scene of the accident and remain there until you have provided your name, address and registration to the person you struck. Furthermore, you must provide reasonable assistance to the injured, including, if necessary, carrying them to a doctor. You also must file a police report within one half hour of the accident or of being released from a hospital.

If you have only damaged the other person’s car, you must still immediately stop and provide your information to the other driver.

In accidents involving injury or death, a failure to stop can result in a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison. If you fail to file a police report, you may be charged with a Class 2 felony, punishable by 3 to 7 years. If the other party died, you are now subject to a Class 1 felony, punishable by 4 to 15 years. When the accident only involves property damage, you may still be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail plus a fine.

If you are charged with leaving the scene, you must not speak about your situation to the police or anyone else. You should also refrain from discussing your problems through any electronic media such as Twitter, email or Facebook. Even though the police may have tracked down your vehicle, the state still has the burden of proving that you were the one driving beyond a reasonable doubt. Without your statements, the State may not be able to meet this burden.

If police are looking for you, contact an attorney immediately to help protect your rights. If you are in custody, ask to speak with an attorney and do not make any statements. Police may try to persuade you to confess by promising that they will give you a break. However, the police may not be authorized to reduce or drop the charges, and your statements can still be used against you.

If you have questions about your situation, feel free to contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com

See our related DUI blog at http://duilawyerskokie.com.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves clients in the communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Palatine, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

The post “I JUST PANICKED!”: WHEN YOU ARE CHARGED WITH LEAVING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT appeared first on A SKOKIE CRIMINAL LAWYER EXPLAINS THE LAW 1-847-568-0160.