November 2011 Archives

Whether you're a Northwestern student who's had a bit too much to drink, or someone's whose after-work happy hour became a three-hour binger, you may find yourself having to make the difficult decision whether to pay $30 for a cab ride home or risk driving home yourself.

In reality, this is not such a difficult decision to make. Besides the obvious risks of killing someone or yourself by driving drunk, you also face substantial penalties including jail time, fines, and license suspensions if you're caught driving under the influence. But with a new smart phone app called FreeRideHome, the decision not to drive yourself home has become a no-brainer.

Perhaps the biggest Thanksgiving DUI news over this holiday weekend is the absence of any news. Sure, there have been a few DUI stops reported locally, but so far there have been few signs of any major DUI busts, accidents, or injuries.

This may be a case where no news is good news, evidencing that the state's amped up DUI enforcement over the weekend has worked.

Life isn't fair for 18-year-old Olivia Ornelas. Her boyfriend promised to take her to see the new Twilight movie, but then he went back on his word. Understandably upset, the young woman then allegedly downed some alcohol and drove into a ditch.

Now Ornelas faces DUI and underage drinking charges, and it's unclear how sympathetic a judge will be as to the reasons why she was drunk.

The holiday season is quickly coming upon us. But with turkey, shopping deals, and holiday cheer, come police checkpoints and drunk driving arrests. Being a Thanksgiving drunk will get you in trouble, as cities and towns crack down hard on DUIs.

On July 4th and Labor Day, we wrote about enhanced police crackdowns on holiday drunk driving; and this Thanksgiving will be no different. The reason being that more people drive drunk on holidays and there is a higher rate of fatalities with drunk driving at these times of the year, reports Trib Local.

Hector Barajas, a South Side man, has been charged with a DUI for allegedly causing a car crash early Sunday morning that killed one person and critically injured two others.

The 23-year-old Barajas has been charged with aggravated DUI causing death among other charges, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

We’ve thrown around the term “aggravated DUI” a lot on this blog and you may have associated the term with certain serious DUIs like when someone kills or seriously injures another.

However, we’ve yet to fully define an Illinois aggravated DUI or at least explain all the reasons someone can be charged with the crime.

You may have heard that if you have a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher you are considered legally drunk in Illinois. But did you know that you can be considered driving under the influence in Illinois even if you have a much lower blood alcohol level?

Illinois DUI laws provide several ways that someone is considered intoxicated. The most commonly known way is having a blood alcohol level above 0.08.

You may know that you can be charged with a criminal offense if you are caught with a DUI and have a blood alcohol level above 0.08.

But did you know that you can also be charged with an offense if you haven't even had a sip of alcohol?

Mieczyslaw Galka is in serious trouble if he's convicted of his sixth DUI offense.

The Chicago man was arrested last week for a DUI. Given his five previous DUI convictions, he could face a class X felony charge and 30 years in jail if convicted of his sixth DUI.

The 57-year-old Galka was driving in Brookfield when someone following his car reported that he was driving erratically, reports the La Grange Suburban Life. Stopped by the Riverside Bookfield High School, police found an open bottle of vodka in his car and Galka appeared to be severely impaired.

Michael Ditka was arrested for a DUI in April after he failed a field sobriety test. The son of former Bears' legend faced felony DUI charges given his prior convictions.

But Ditka is saying that the DUI charges should be thrown out. Ditka is not arguing that he was not drunk at the time of arrest. Instead, he's just saying he should never have been arrested.

So, what is the Michael Ditka DUI defense?

A DUI is probably the one crime that most of us are capable of committing. After all, it's far from likely that you will commit armed robbery. But have a few too many drinks at the office party, and then decide to take the short drive home, and all of a sudden you are arrested for a DUI.

The DUI process is very similar to any other crime. DUI cases follow a specific set of stages, and the following provides a brief overview of what to expect at each stage of a DUI case: