Illinois DUI attorney Douglas Zeit says he plans to challenge the blood-alcohol test and other procedures connected to the April 26, 2008 arrest of Lake County Judge David Hall for suspicion of driving under the influence (Tribune) and resisting arrest.
DUI cases very rarely go to trial, since results of a breathalyzer test give relatively conclusive evidence. But Judge Hall's attorney is fighting the case because he believes he can win on a technicality.
Zeit does not dispute the fact that his client's blood-alcohol level was .107 percent and over the limit when stopped by police in Vernon Hills.
However, he claims that Hall's privacy rights under the federal HIPPA law were violated when a law enforcement officer allegedly advised hospital staff on how the blood sample should be processed. A lawyer for Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where Hall's blood sample was processed, told reporters that Zeit's efforts to subpoena the related information were too broad and that he was "on a fishing expedition."
Now Zeit will have a few more months to prepare his explanation for the court, since his motion for a continuance was granted. The trial, originally scheduled for Dec. 14, is reset for March 8.
Hall testified that he in fact had been drinking before he was stopped by police says, but says he didn't do anything to give Officer Jesse Goldsmith reasonable cause. Goldsmith died of a heart attack in June of 2008, according to the article:
Goldsmith completed much of the paperwork and likely would have been the key prosecution witness at trial. But anything he would have testified to, including anything in his reports, could now be inadmissible, according to legal experts.
Meanwhile, Hall continues to serve as a Lake County judge.
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Drunk Driving Information and Illinois Law (Illinois State Police)
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L.A. judge arrested on DUI charge (Los Angeles Times)
- Court Clears Drunk Cop of DUI (Free Republic)
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Chicago DUI Law Firms (FindLaw)
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