My client was stopped by the DuPage Sheriff’s Police and after the officer smelled alcohol and saw that my client had blood-shot and glassy eyes. They arrested him for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. Because the arrest took place on private property, were was not a Statutory Summary Suspension issued.
On the first court date I filed a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension. One was not issued to my client, but I filed one anyway. In the event they filed one later. I also filed a Motion to Quash. The Motion to Quash asks the court to dismiss the case based upon the police officer not having enough reason to arrest my client in the first place.
At the hearing, the officer testified that he smelled a strong smell of alcohol from my client’s breath, had blood-shot and glassy eyes, and that my client admitted to consuming alcohol earlier in the day. I crossed examined the officer and the Dupage County Sheriff’s inexperience really shined through. He admitted that there are other non-alcohol drinks and foods that make someone breath smell like alcohol. Additionally, he cannot tell how much alcohol a person consumed by the smell of his breath. Also, that red and blood-shot eyes could be the result of many other reasons rather than consuming alcohol, (i.e., contact lenses, staying up late, crying, etc.).
The DuPage County Judge ruled that a reasonable police officer would not have made the arrest based upon the evidence. For that reason, the DuPage County Sheriff was wrong in making the arrest. The Judge ruled that all of the state’s evidence was supressed and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed the case.
