Traffic Laws & Courts

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Traffic Laws & Courts

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2004 Articles

A citizen’s tip is not enough to justify a stop of a motor vehicle without sufficient detail or corroboration By Sean D. Brady December 2004 The Second District Appellate Court recently addressed the issue of a citizen-tip of reckless driving in the case of Village of Mundelein v. Minx, 352 Ill.App.3d 216, 815 N.E.2d 965, 287 Ill. Dec. 321 (2d Dist. 2004).
DUIs & Custodial Interrogation By Thomas M. Moran June 2004 For years prosecutors and defense attorneys have debated over what actually constitutes "custodial interrogation" in the context of a DUI stop.
Gumma v. White-Application of the Doctrine of Collateral Estoppel in summary suspension proceedings By Larry A. Davis April 2004 Since the Supreme Court's decision in People v. Moore, 138 Ill.2d 162, 149 Ill.Dec.278, 561 N.E.2d 648 (1990), the courts have consistently held that the doctrine of collateral estoppel cannot be applied to bar re-litigation of an issue determined at a summary suspension hearing in the subsequent criminal DUI proceeding.
Is a Frye hearing required to admit the results of HGN testing in DUI prosecutions? By Larry A. Davis December 2004 Practitioners in the field of DUI have known for a number of years that horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) testing has been held to be admissible for the purpose of establishing probable cause to arrest in the context of a petition to rescind a statutory summary suspension or motion to quash arrest without the necessity of conducting a Frye hearing.
Is the Breathalyzer mouthpiece a foreign substance requiring a new 20-minute observation? Period? By Sean D. Brady April 2004 Is the Breathalyzer mouthpiece a foreign substance requiring a new 20-minute observation period? This issue was addressed in the case of People v. Wilhelm, 803 N.E.2d 1032, 281 Ill.Dec. 411 (2nd Dist. 2004).
Jurisdictional issues involving appeals on motions to suppress- Local prosecutors beware By Michael W. Feetterer April 2004 You are a village prosecutor. It is four o'clock in the afternoon.
Non-consensual chemical testing held to be generally inadmissible in DUI cases By Larry A. Davis January 2004 Since 1986, it has been clear that under Illinois law the non-consensual, or involuntary withdrawal of a blood, urine or breath sample from a person arrested for DUI was admissible against such person, provided that probable cause existed for the charged offense.
People v. Hanna By Edward M. Maloney January 2004 In a blistering rebuff, the Illinois Supreme Court has reversed an Illinois Appellate Court decision that had required the Illinois Department of Public Health to follow its own rules and regulations.
People v. Smith and People v. Laake: A new exception to the 4th Amendment prohibition against warrantless seizures? By Larry A. Davis June 2004 Illinois courts have generally recognized only three circumstances under which police-citizen encounters in the absence of a warrant may be deemed permissible under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
Recent cases By Thomas M. Moran & James J. Ahern April 2004 A police officer has authority to stop a vehicle when the driver remains at a standstill for 20 seconds after the traffic control signal turns green. In People v. Kelly, No. #2-02-0274, ___ Ill.App.3d ___, 802 N.E.2d 850, 280 Ill.Dec. 599 (2d Dist. 2003), after the officer observed the defendant's vehicle remain stopped at an intersection for approximately 20 seconds after the light turned green.
Recent DUI cases By James J. Ahern & Thomas M. Moran December 2004 In a decision from the Illinois Supreme Court filed September 23, 2004, the Court recognized that a defendant may successfully raise the "GERD defense" as a basis for excluding the result of a breath test.
Recent DUI cases By Thomas M. Moran & James J. Ahern January 2004 Supreme Court Rule 412(a)(i) requires that the State, as part of pretrial discovery and upon the defendant's request, supply the defendant with the names of persons whom the State intends to call as witnesses.
Review of important new traffic laws of the 93rd General Assembly By Edward M. Maloney January 2004 Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code, Increases the penalty for fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony.
Second District holds that preliminary breath tests (PBTs) can be used as evidence in statutory summary suspension hearings By J. Brick Van Der Snick June 2004 In People of the State of Illinois v. Rozela, 345 Ill.App.3d 217, (2nd Dist. 2003), the Illinois Appellate Court held that Section 11-501.5 of the Vehicle Code permitted the State to introduce the result of a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) to support the officer's conclusion that he had probable cause to arrest the Defendant for DUI in a statutory summary suspension hearing.
Zero tolerance law upheld By John T. Doddy, Jr. December 2004 In Arvia v. Madigan, No. 95590, 2004 LEXIS 671, (Ill. Sup. Ct. April 15, 2004), the Illinois Supreme Court, on direct appeal by the State, reversed the finding of the Circuit Court of Cook County which found the Illinois Zero Tolerance Law (625 ILCS 5/11-501.8) unconstitutional on both equal protection and due process grounds.