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Recent Blog Posts
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.
Five Steps You Should Take After You are Injured at Work
An injury can happen anywhere, at any time – even while you are at work. Though certain industries and professions can pose more of a risk to employees, any worker can be injured through a variety of ways. Work injuries can range from a superficial cut to loss of a limb and, in some cases, even death. The decisions that you make after you are injured at work can affect the outcome of your workers’ compensation claim, which is why it is important that you take the right steps. Here are a couple of steps that every injured worker should take if they have been hurt at work:
1. Report Your Injury Right Away
One of the first things you should do after you are injured at work is to report your injury to your employer. While it does not have to be the absolute first thing you do, it is imperative that you report your injury as soon as possible. You cannot file a workers’ compensation claim and receive benefits if you do not report your injury.
Understanding Marijuana DUI Charges in Illinois
Many states across the country have legalized the use of recreational marijuana, with Illinois following suit. For Illinois, the beginning of the year brought the legalization of recreational marijuana, but it also brought concerns about marijuana-related DUI’s. Illinois now permits adults who are age 21 or older to purchase and consume cannabis, though the drug still remains highly controlled. Adults are only permitted to purchase and possess certain amounts of marijuana and are only permitted to ingest the drug in certain places. Like alcohol users, marijuana users are subject to charges if they are caught driving while under the influence.
Illinois’ Marijuana DUI Laws
The 2020 Illinois DUI Factbook states that drivers in Illinois are not permitted to operate a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs such as cannabis, whether it was used for medical or recreational purposes. Like alcohol, the state has placed a limit for what is considered to be a legal amount of THC (the intoxicating compound in marijuana) in a driver’s blood. While the intoxication limit for alcohol is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08, the intoxication limit for THC is no more than 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood or 10 nanograms of THC per milliliter of another bodily substance.
What Should I do if I am Falsely Accused of Domestic Violence?
In recent years, more attention has been given to certain social issues such as intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. This movement has brought about awareness of these issues and has created a mostly positive change in the culture of the country. There are people, however, who believe that the current culture allows any allegations of such misconduct to be taken at face value, which can end up convicting those accused of domestic violence, regardless of whether or not they actually committed the crime.
Being falsely accused of any crime can be problematic, but being falsely accused of committing a crime like domestic violence can be devastating. Such an allegation can cause issues in your personal relationships with your friends and family and could even negatively impact future educational or career opportunities. Being falsely accused of domestic violence requires swift and immediate action.
Remember Your Right to Remain Silent
How to Prevent Four Medical Errors That Can Cause Serious Injuries or Death
Hospitals are supposed to be some of the safest places we can go – they are where we go to be treated when we are sick or injured. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. According to The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital safety organization, as many as 440,000 people die annually as a result of hospital errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. This makes medical errors the third leading cause of death for Americans, right behind heart disease and cancer. Fortunately, many medical errors are preventable. Here are four medical mistakes and what you can do to minimize the chance that they happen to you:
- Medication Mix-Ups: There are a lot of moving parts in hospitals and multiple ways a medication mix-up can occur. Getting the wrong medication or the wrong dose of a medication can cause you more problems and can even be deadly. Before you take your medication, you should verify that the nurse gave you the correct medication and the correct dosage.
Claiming Medical Malpractice When You Have Been Misdiagnosed
When you are experiencing health issues, you go to a doctor. You trust that doctor to examine you, take into consideration your symptoms and diagnose you so you can begin treating the issue. The key to getting the care that you need is being diagnosed correctly – which does not always happen. According to CBS News, some 12 million Americans seeking outpatient care are misdiagnosed each year, with around half of those misdiagnoses having the potential to cause severe harm to the patient. Being misdiagnosed not only leaves you without the proper care for your actual condition but could also cause you to receive treatment for conditions that you do not actually have, which can cause other health problems.
Misdiagnosis Claims
A misdiagnosis claim can actually take the form of three different types of medical malpractice behaviors:
- Missed Diagnosis: The doctor does not believe that there is anything wrong with the patient. The patient actually has a disease or condition but is not receiving treatment due to the lack of diagnosis.
How do Consequences Change for DUI if There is a Child in the Vehicle?
If you have a child, you know that your first priority is making sure they are safe at all times. Even though we strive to keep our children out of harm’s way, sometimes things happen that cause our children to be put in danger, whether it is our fault or not. Having a child in the vehicle when you are arrested for driving under the influence is a serious situation. Not only do you face consequences if convicted for driving while under the influence, but that could be just the beginning of your worries. Illinois law has provisions for what happens when a person is arrested and convicted of DUI when there is a child under the age of 16 in the vehicle with them.
Consequences for First-Offense DUI with a Child in the Vehicle
Consequences of being convicted of a DUI for a first offense can vary depending on the judge, but there is a good chance that you can receive court supervision as a sentence, which could keep a conviction off your criminal record. As long as you follow the rules of your court supervision, which typically include attending drug/alcohol counseling and/or community service, your case will be dismissed at the end of the supervision period. However, if a child was with you in your car during your first DUI, you face a minimum fine of $1,000 and at least 25 days of community service in a program benefiting children.
How can an Illinois Order of Protection Affect Me?
Unfortunately, domestic violence is a fairly common occurrence in the U.S. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, there are more than 12 million people who experience some form of domestic violence each year. Domestic violence is a crime that is taken very seriously in Illinois and is punished accordingly. There are options available to victims of domestic violence to help combat their situations, such as getting an order of protection against the abuser. An order of protection is a legal document signed by a judge that requires the alleged abuser to stop further abuse and to stay away from the victim.
Contents of an Order of Protection
When someone requests an order of protection against you, the judge will decide what kind of stipulations are in the order. There are many things that can be required or prohibited in an order of protection. Orders of protection can prohibit you from:
- Harassing, intimidating, stalking or abusing the person who requested the order;
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