Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (DUI) – DRIVER’S LICENSE SUSPENSION REMOVED

The Niles  Police Department observed my client speeding 51 mph in a posted 35 mph zone. When the police officer approached her vehicle, he smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath and bloodshot eyes. The officer asked her if she was drinking and my client admitted to consuming 2 drinks at a bar. The officer asked my client to perform field sobriety testing because he suspected that she was under the influence of alcohol (DUI). She performed the One Leg Stand, Walk and Turn Test and the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) Test. The officer indicated that she failed all the tests. The officer arrested my client for DUI. At the Niles Police Station my client submitted to a breathalyzer which resulted in a .142%. Because my client was charged with a DUI and blew over a .08%, the Illinois Secretary of State was going to suspend my client’s driver’s license for a period of 6 months. We immediately filed a Petition to Rescind Statutory Summary Suspension to prevent her license from being suspended. On the first scheduled court date, the arresting officer was not in court. The prosecutor asked the judge for a short date to bring the officer in for the hearing. The judge granted the prosecutor’s request over my objection. On the following scheduled court date the officer appeared in court ready for a hearing. I argued to the judge that my client’s Due Process rights were violated because no hearing was done within 30 days of the date I filed the Petition. Today was day 31! The judge agreed with my argument and removed the license suspension!