Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUI) – Not Guilty of DUI after Trial

My client was stopped by the Cook County Sheriff’s Police for weaving lane to lane for 2 blocks. The Defendant pulled over and attempted to open his door while the vehicle was still moving. The officer gave my client commands to close his door and put the car in park. The officer approached the driver and observed him to be sweating, bulging eyes and exhibiting large pupils. My client then admitted to the officer that he had ingested cocaine 1/2 hour before driving. The officer then had my client perform field sobriety testing. My client failed all of the test given. He even walked backwards on the walk and turn test instead of walking forward. The officer arrested him for driving under the influence of drugs after observing all of the signs of impairment and his admission to doing cocaine a short while before driving. I went to trial because my client believed in me. I cross-examined the officer on why he would conduct field sobriety testing on an individual he believed to be under the influence of drugs and not alcohol. I got the officer to admit that field sobriety tests are only valid for the detection of alcohol impairment and not drug impairment. The judge knew my client was guilty, however, after my cross-examination, the judge could not find that the State of Illinois had met their burden of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt!” Another victory for our office.