Our Chicago DUI Lawyers ask: When does not starting your car equal driving your car?  Answer: When it comes to convicting people of DUI.  Want proof?  Look at what happened to a MA man who didn’t even start his car but was nevertheless charged with drunk driving.

Court: Key enough for drunk driving conviction

By Associated Press

The state Appeals Court has ruled that someone who inserts a key in a car’s ignition and turns on the vehicle’s electricity without starting the engine can be convicted of drunken driving.

Robert S. McGillivary of Salisbury appealed his 2007 drunken driving conviction on the grounds that he was not operating the vehicle when an officer found him slumped over the steering wheel with the key in the ignition and the dashboard illuminated.

The court said Tuesday that turning the key is the first step in a sequence to set the vehicle in motion and “was sufficient to permit the jury to conclude that he ’operated’ the motor vehicle.”

So if I point a gun at someone, it’s murder?  What if I “think about” robbing a bank?  The penal code is full of “attempted” crimes (murder, robbery), so why not a charge of “attempted drunk driving”?  Only in the world of DUI prosecution can someone be found guilty of a crime, without even committing the crime.

Our Chicago Injury Lawyers got a kick out of the video of the woman who fell in the mall fountain while texting.  Now we learn that the woman has filed a lawsuit against the mall.

Texting woman falls in fountain, files lawsuit

FRESNO, California (KFSN) — Earlier this week ABC30 showed you video of a woman who mistakenly fell into the fountain at a Pennsylvania mall, because she was distracted by text messaging. Well now that woman is suing the mall for not helping her.

The video has received more than 1.5 million views since it went viral on YouTube last week. The woman in the video, Cathy Cruz Marrero, doesn’t think the video is very funny. She claims she could have gotten seriously hurt and that the security guards should have helped instead of laugh.

“I’m just like dumbfounded. And all I kept saying was, ‘I fell. I fell. I fell in the fountain. I fell in the fountain.’”

Marrero has hired a lawyer to pursue legal action. The investigation is ongoing at the mall as to who leaked the video online.

Thanks to Ms. Marrero for giving personal injury lawyers a bad name.  Good luck with this one.

Another Chicago DUI Roadblock this weekend.

ROADSIDE SAFETY CHECK IN THE DEERING (009th) DISTRICT

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Deering (009th) District at 3120 S. Halsted Avenue.

The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 2000 hours on 21 January 2011 and end at 0400 hours on 22 January 2011.

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers urge everyone to be responsible if you are headed out this weekend.

Our Chicago Injury Lawyers have noticed a sharp increase in slip and fall injury cases lately.  We thought that it may have something to do with the rough weather that we’ve been having.  Turns out, we were right.

Slip, slide and away: Ice-induced ER visits up 20-30 percent

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Chicago Sun-Times

Several Chicago-area emergency rooms saw a sharp increase in patients overnight — one ER by as much as 30 percent — thanks to dangerously icy streets and sidewalks.

People showed up with dislocated shoulders, as well as wrist and hip fractures, said Jennifer Monasteri, a spokeswoman for Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which saw a 20 percent spike in ER visits, all related to the icy conditions.

“There were certainly a lot of slips and falls related to the weather,” Monasteri said.

At Rush University Medical Center, the bump was 30 percent for the same kinds of injuries, spokeswoman Kim Waterman said.

“We’ve been pretty busy with people slipping and falling,” Waterman said.

Waterman said a fractured ankle was the most serious of the weather-related injuries.

The streets proved treacherous Tuesday even for those who got a heads-up.

Just ask Michelle Penwitt of Elmhurst, who was walking to her job in the Loop Tuesday morning.

“There’s a gentleman who fell in front of me and I was thinking, ‘Oh, how sad. I would hate for that to happen to me,’” Penwitt said Tuesday evening as she was getting ready to board the Metra at Ogilvie Transportation Center. “Two seconds later, I wiped out.”

And Penwitt was wearing sensible, flat-soled boots.

“I just ended up on my hip,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll get a bruise tomorrow.”

What most people don’t realize is that a landowner has a duty to prevent these kinds of dangerous conditions on their property.  Every year, our Chicago Injury Lawyers recover monies lost as a result of these types of injuries.

Be careful out there, folks.

Chicago celebrity Mike Adamle was recently pulled over and arrested for allegedly being DUI. Police proudly announced that Adamle had “failed field sobriety tests” leading most people to believe that he must have been drunk driving. But, when Adamle’s BAC test came back at .04, well under the legal limit for driving, police were left scrambling for an explanation. The story, and our Chicago DUI Lawyers‘ take, below

WMAQ-Ch. 5 sportscaster Mike Adamle is facing DUI charges after being arrested in Evanston early Monday morning.

Adamle, 61, of Evanston, was arrested at Main and Judson streets about 1 a.m., Evanston police said.

The former running back for the Chicago Bears and Northwestern University was driving his four-door, 2002 BMW when he was pulled over for failing to observe a flashing red stoplight at Main and Sheridan Road, Evanston police Cmdr. Jay Parrott said.

The arresting officer suspected that Adamle had been drinking and put him through a field sobriety test, which he failed, Parrott said.

Oh, he failed the field sobriety tests?  Well, he MUST have been drunk, right?

Sportscaster Mike Adamle had a blood-alcohol level below the legal limit when Evanston police pulled him over early Monday and charged him with driving under the influence, police Chief Richard Eddington confirmed Friday.

The chief said he “would not dispute” news reports that Adamle’s blood-alcohol level was 0.04 percent, well below the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

.04.  Not even close to .08.   So, what about those field sobriety tests?  In the late 1970′s, NHTSA was called upon to develop a battery of reliable standardized field sobriety tests to aid in the detection of drunk drivers. The result was the One-Leg Stand test, the Walk-and-Turn test, and the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. According to NHTSA, laboratory research revealed that the One-Legged stand test was 65% accurate in identifying subjects whose blood alcohol concentrations were 0.10 or higher, the Walk-and Turn was 68% accurate, and the HGN was 77% accurate. A large scale field valuation study was then performed in 1982 and 1983.

So how does someone at .04 “fail” tests that are up to 77% accurate in disclosing individuals at .10 and higher?

Perhaps what most people don’t realize that the ultimate flaw in these bogus tests are the graders themselves – the police.  Want proof?

In 1991, Dr. Spurgeon Cole of Clemson University conducted a study on the accuracy of SFSTs. His staff videotaped individuals performing six common field sobriety tests, then showed the tapes to 14 police officers and asked them to decide whether the suspects were drunk, based on the results of the tests. Unknown to the officers, the BAC of each of the 21 DUI subjects was .00%.  Not a drop of alcohol in their systems.

The results: the officers gave their opinion that 46% of these totally sober people were drunk driving.  Cole and Nowaczyk, “Field Sobriety Tests: Are they Designed for Failure?”, 79 Perceptual and Motor Skills Journal 99 (1994).

In other words,  a coin flip is as accurate, or inaccurate, as the police.  Unfortunately, based on the result of that “coin flip”, you could end up arrested for DUI despite being totally innocent.

Our Chicago Injury Lawyers have always said that some of the strangest stories that you’ll hear can be found in a courtroom. The story below, about a man injuring himself after being hit by a stripper’s shoe,  is a perfect example.

By Susan Spencer-Wendel

No truth to the rumor that the settlement was to be paid in all singles.

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers have blogged about some of the many maniacs MADD has helped to take off the roads, including those on bicycles.  The story below is another classic example of the  insanity of the “war” on DUI.  CHP police, responding to an injured bicyclist, rather than give the injured bicyclist aid, decide instead to arrest the injured man and 5 of his friends for Bicycle DUI.

Los Angeles, CA (AP)

Five bicycle riders have been arrested on suspicion of riding under the influence in South Los Angeles after officers gave sobriety tests to a pack of pre-dawn bikers.

California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Ruiz says officers were called to the Baldwin Hills area at around 1:30 a.m. Thursday after a bicycle lost control and crashed to the pavement.

Ruiz says while officers were there, 15 bicyclists came up to check on their friend. Ruiz says they were riding on both sides of the street without helmets and were barely visible to motorists.

Ruiz says officers smelled alcohol and conducted field sobriety tests on the bikers. He says five men, ages 18 to 22, were arrested, cited for bicycle DUI and released. He says one arrestee was the accident victim, who wasn’t seriously injured.

Ridiculous.

Two Chicago DUI Checkpoints this weekend, folks:

Roadside Safety Check

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Morgan Park (22nd) District at 10460 S. Halsted. The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 2000 hours on Saturday night, 15 January 2011 and end at 0400 hours Sunday, January 16 2011

Roadside Safety Check

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Belmont (19th) District at 3444 N. Western Ave. The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 2000 hours on Friday night, 14 January 2011 and end at 0400 hours Saturday January 15

Our Chicago DUI Attorneys urge everyone to be responsible if you are heading out this weekend.

From the WTF department. Our Canadian friends have some unique ideas about avoiding breathalyzers.  One Alberta man tried to eat his underwear to avoid a breathalyzer test, while an Ontario man ate his socks.

Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer

The Advocate By D’Arcy Rickard

An 18 year-old man tried to eat his underwear in the hope that the cotton fabric would absorb alcohol before he took a breathalyzer test.

David Zurfluh was collared by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Bill Robinson after he ran from his vehicle, which had been seen weaving down the highway. While sitting in the back of the patrol car, Mr. Zurfluh tried to eat his shorts, Constable Robinson told the court.  Mr. Zurfluh said he ripped the crotch out of his shorts, stuffed the fabric in his mouth and then spit it out.

A class of students from William E. Hay Composite High, in court as observers, was removed by the teacher when testimony enlivened the proceedings. The Grade 11 and 12 students had difficulty maintaining their composure. “People were leaving the courtroom with tears in their eyes, trying not to laugh,” said RCMP Constable Peter McFarlane.

***********

Teen tries to eat clothes to avoid breathalyzer

St. Catharine’s Standard

Police say a 19-year-old Ontario man who was arrested for suspected drunk driving used bizarre tactics when asked to take a breath test.

Police say the Bruce County man first took out his contact lenses and ate them – and then tried to eat his shirt and socks. When police tried to stop the man from devouring his clothes, a scuffle broke out, and an officer pepper-sprayed him.

The clothes-eating suspect has been charged with failing to provide a breath sample.

Our Chicago DUI Attorneys would like to remind everyone that there is no need to eat your underwear or socks to “fool” the breathalyzer – you can just refuse a breathalyzer test.

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers urge everyone to be careful out there.

DUI STRIKE FORCE PATROL IN THE SHAKESPEARE (014th) DISTRICT
The Chicago Police Department will conduct a DUI Strike Force Patrol in the Shakespeare (014th) District beginning at 8:00 p.m., Friday, January 7, 2011 and ending at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 28, 2011.