How Are DUIs Handled By Noll Law Offices In Illinois? Part 1 of 2
By Dan Noll on January 6th, 2014 in Criminal Defense Lawyer, DUI Law, Traffic Attorney
Dan Stratford: Hello, my name is Dan Stratford with C1 Partners. Today we are interviewing Dan Noll who is a criminal defense attorney at the Noll Law Office based in Springfield, Illinois. Today we’re going to talk to Dan about DUI circumstances and what to do if you find yourself dealing with a potential DUI conviction. My first question for you Dan is let’s start at the beginning of what happens when someone finds themselves in this situation. In Illinois, under what circumstances can a police officer decide to begin testing someone for a DUI? And what test do they use in the field?
Daniel Noll: That’s an excellent question Dan. I think to appropriately answer it there has to be one previous step made. That is the initial encounter with the police officer. Most DUIs begin with a reason to be pulled over. That could be the officer says a person was speeding or swerving, they stop at accidents. Once that initial contact is made with the police officer, they then talk to the person. Ask them for their driver’s license and insurance. If the officer develops a reasonable suspicion to think the person is driving under the influence of alcohol, they will then request the individual to do what’s known as the Standard Field Sobriety Tests.
The three most common tests given is number one, the one leg stand; where a person stands on one leg and the officer has them count. The second test is the walk and turn test. In that test the individual takes nine steps, turns around and does nine steps back. The horizontal gaze nystagmus test or the HGN test; that test is an eye examination. The officer in all of those tests are looking for clues to intoxication.
The final test given at the scene of an incident or at the scene where the officer believes somebody’s under the influence of alcohol, what’s known as a portable breath test, or PBT. That portable breath test is a mechanism which measures the alcohol content in person’s breath. In the State of Illinois we have law, anybody that has an alcohol content of above .08 is presumed under the influence of alcohol. So officers oftentimes will ask a person to submit to this portable breath test to see what that number is.
For Part 2 of 2 Follow This Link: How Are DUI’s Handled By Noll Law Offices In Illinois? Part 2 of 2