A police officer in your face after you've had any alcohol and been stopped while driving is scary. With all that fear getting in the way, you need to know how to react ahead of time. Proper application of your constitutional rights can protect you like nothing else, and here's how it's done.
1
Play Nicely with Others
Be respectful & polite. Nothing will get you arrested faster than abusing a police officer already under immense pressure to arrest you and who has no incentive at all to cut you any slack. Officers will do their best to open you up and get you gabbing, and while sometimes they choose to be your "buddy", many officers prefer the easier path of poking you with a stick until you snap at them. Just think how much respect you'll get from the Judge who hears you questioned that fine officer's parental lineage! Underneath their professional demeanor, police officers are people who respond to disrespect the same way you do. On the street, they have all the power to begin with, and by taking the bait, you give them more. Let your lawyer do the fighting - that's what an attorney does.
2
Don't spill the beans! That 5th amendment is there for a reason.
Your Illinois driver license, insurance & registration contain the ONLY information you should share - in response to any other questions say "I'm not answering any questions". It's that simple. If you want to get fancy, go with "I respectfully refuse to answer any questions". Face it - you're not at your best at 2am even if you've had nothing to drink. Perhaps it can be said that there is no motion that experienced criminal attorneys throughout Illinois and the rest of the country spend more time on than motions to suppress statements in an effort to undo the moment their clients said something like "I only had three martinis 'ocifer', I'm not drunk . . . what was I saying?"
3
Did you really want to help that officer (who is absolutely going to arrest you) make (up) his case?
Refuse ALL field sobriety tests. Even the ones the officer says are "just to help me make a decision ," or "I'll have no choice to arrest you if you refuse" (he's going to anyways). Standardized field tests are designed to be administered in very particular ways, for test subjects that fit within very particular limitations, performed at locations that fit very particular criteria. Some studies have even shown the tests are designed for failure from the start. Face it - police officers aren't going to be that particular at 2am on a windy Chicago street. Sure you should be polite about it, but don't forget that once you're out of the car, "To Serve and Protect" no longer includes you - for you, the police have another motto - "To Investigate and Arrest".
4
Chemical tests complicate your defense, add criminal charges, and may trigger mandatory fines and jail.
Refuse all chemical testing. No breath, no urine, no blood, no Ouija boards. If threatened with a warrant for blood - make them get it, just like you would if the police wanted to search your house. You are under no obligation to give the prosecution the opportunity to file additional criminal charges, which they will do if your test comes back at or above a 0.08 reading. You have no obligation to make the Judge give you a higher sentence, fine, or mandatory jail time, but you might be doing just that. Given that in the vast majority of cases defendants will be eligible to obtain a driving permit for all but one month of your suspension (unless your prior arrest was within the past five years) one question just pops out, doesn't it? Why do that?
5
Get thee to the best Illinois DUI attorney you can find.
No, your Dad's friend who is a great corporate lawyer (or even a great civil litigator) is not equipped to defend a DUI properly. DUI law is not only incredibly intricate and time sensitive, it is also incredibly easy to miss the details that can set you free - don't let that happen. Retain the best counsel available and do so right away.
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