Illinois criminal law and DUI attorney Sami Azhari appears in Episode 184 of the Criminal Nuggets Podcast to unravel Drug DUIs.
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Illinois Drugged Driving Law
Did you know the actual and full title to Illinois’s DUI statute is…
See 625 ILCS 5/11-501.
Though driving under the influence of alcohol is by far the most common type of DUI, we ought not forget about the drug DUI’s.
I would describe the Drug DUI sections this way:
► 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(3) prohibits while driving under the influence of intoxicating compounds. For example, this section deals with aerosol cans, cleaning agents, and any other substance not thought of as a “drug” yet clearly intoxicating.
► 625 ILcS 5/11-501(a)(4) prohibits driving on drugs if you can’t do it safely. Usually, we are talking prescription drugs or any drug that has not been labeled as a controlled substance.
► 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(6) prohibits driving whenever there is any amount of a controlled substance (including marijuana) in a person’s body. This does not actually require proof of intoxication.
Crucial and important differences are buried within the Drug DUI law and the cases. That's why…
Illinoi Criminal Law and DUI Attorney Sami Azhari
…agreed to sit down with us to help identify some of the crucial aspects of drugged driving in Illinois.
Sami Azhari is a state and federal criminal law attorney. His primary areas of practice include felonies such as drug possession, drug trafficking, assault and battery, weapons charges, and white collar crime, as well as misdemeanors and traffic violations.
He is quite familiar with Illinois Drug DUI laws and was generous with his time.
Podcast Episode 184 Features The Following
Episode 184 of the Criminal Nuggets Podcast is 23:06 minutes in duration.
In the episode Sami Azhari…
✓ Reveals questionable short-cuts a judge may take when confronted with an “obvious” drug DUI.
✓ Provides some specific details on what a drug recognition expert can and cannot do in court.
✓ Defines the 12 steps every drug recognition expert should be taking when evaluating a suspect in the field.
✓ Tells us the truth about how common drug recognition training is among patrol officers.
✓ Highlights a crucial legal difference between prescription drugs and illegal drugs that can get a non-lawyer in serious legal trouble.
✓ Answers the question: Do you know how much of an officer’s training with standard field sobriety testing carries over to drug intoxication investigations?
✓ Discloses the sneaky way state prosecutors may use a drug recognition expert in court.
✓ Outlines this scene: An officer comes upon a driver who has just had a serious accident. The driver is incoherent, can’t put together logical sentences, is non-sensical, has terrible balance, and is obviously under the influence of something. When alcohol is ruled out this is NOT THE TIME to assume drugs are involved.
✓ Tells about the A.R.I.D.E. training program and how it differs from traditional drug recognition training.
✓ These and many other important topics are covered.
The Cases
Here are the links to some of the cases covered by Sami Azhari
People v. Foltz, 403 Ill. App. 3d 419, 424 (2010)
People v. Vanzandt, 287 Ill. App. 3d 836, 845 (1997)
But also check out…
People v. Ciborowski, 2016 IL App (1st) 143352 (June)
I think we need Sami to come back and help us make sense of Ciborowski.
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