This person did nothing to be pulled over for, i know i was with him. We drove out of town 5 miles before noticing a car flying up behind us, we turned onto a side road the car followed and pulled us over. The cop told him someone had called in his licence plate no. less than an hour earlier saying that he ran off the road in another town (when he was on his way to pick me up.) That he seen the plates and pulled him over. He was arrested but not put in jail and no bail. He then got a letter from the St's. Attny. saying that no charges had been filed yet and to not show up on set court date of 2/28/12. Now he's recieved a letter saying he's been charged with 3 counts of DUI and to go to court on 4/18/12. Does any of this make any sense at all? He has had 2 previous DUI's over 5 yrs. ago.
The DUI statute allows for different ways to charge a DUI even if there is only one incident. For example, a person who took and failed the breath test may be charged with 2 counts of DUI (one count of general DUI based on the officer's observations and one count based on a BrAC over the legal limit of .08). If the person pleads guilty or is found guilty, he/she will only be sentenced on 1 count and any other counts based on the same act will be merged or vacated.
Daniel G. GalivanCriminal Defense AttorneyClarendon Hills, IL ·
Here's my take. The three counts could be: 1. Driving Under the Influence, 2. Driving with BAC in excess of .08, 3. Aggravtaed DUI (his license is likely revoked due to the prior DUI's). He certainly can be charged by the state after the fact and this usually occurs where the police were waiting on blood or urine test results. As for the stop: Information provided to the police by concerned citizens is considered reliable and generally constitues probable casue for a traffic stop. He needs to retain a DUI/criminal defense attorney right away. www.galivanlaw.net
W. Scott HankenCriminal Defense AttorneySpringfield, IL ·
There are numerous ways to charge a DUI depending on the circumstances. You can have a generic DUI, DUI/BAC where there has been a breath, blood or urine test, DUI involving drugs (prescription or controlled, DUI combination of drugs and alcohol and even DUI for driving etc with any amount of drugs in your system (even where there is no impairment.
It is similar to an individual charged with 4 counts of murder even though there was only 1 victim.
The real issue here is the reliability of the tip and whether it was anonymous etc. Any DUI defense attorney worth his salt will look at this case with an eye towards developing a basis for a Motion to Quash Arrest or attacking the Probable Cause for the initial stop.
