DUI Attorneys at Alcock & Associates Law Firm
A Chicago Judge faces a DUI trail in May. It has been almost four years since his arrest. This case is really interesting.
Judge Hall, who is still on the bench while he awaits trial, was charged with both DUI and resisting arrest. His DUI attorneys have done an excellent job with his case, suppressing the blood taken from Hall the night of his arrest. The DUI lawyers were able to show that the blood was mishandled when it was taken at the hospital.
It looked like the whole case was going to be thrown out, but the prosecution now wants to proceed without the blood results and without the arresting officer. Officer Jesse Goldsmith died of a heart attack some two months after the arrest.
Apparently the Judge was driving in the wrong lane when he was stopped by Goldsmith. When the judge attempted to roll up his window, he was pepper sprayed.
Now I don’t know a great deal about the case, but it seems to me that the State is going to have a hell of a time getting a conviction. Why? Because Judge Hall actually did a smart thing.
By rolling up his window, he forced the officer to make an arrest. But before making the arrest, there is scant evidence of impairment. The best the officer could do is say that Hall smelled like alcohol. This isn’t very persuasive. I think that the judge knew exactly what he was doing. You force the officer to make an arrest with little evidence. I don’t think that the judge anticipated getting pepper sprayed, however.
DUI attorneys hear from their clients all the time that the police routinely mistreat arrested drivers. Looks like this case was no different.
Furthermore, with Goldsmith’s death, there isn’t going to be any testimony from a police officer about the traffic stop and what was said before the pepper spray was deployed. The state will try to bring other officers to testify about what they saw, but a DUI case against an esteemed judge will be hard to win without blood or witnesses.
I think that this case is important because it highlights typical police action. When the judge rolled up his window, he was sprayed and charged with resisting arrest. The only reason why we are talking about this case is due to the fact that Judge Hall is a judge and he could afford top-notch DUI attorneys. What happened in this case is all too common. The police over react and they also mis-handle evidence.
If convicted of DUI or resisting arrest, the judge technically is facing jail time, although in Chicago it appears that he would simply get probation.
DUI attorney Nick Alcock owns Alcock & Associates
