Case Results
People of The State of Illinois v. D.P.
Client was charged with a Driving Under the Influence in violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-501.
The incident occurred during a tumultuous and snowy February. After careful review of the dashcam footage provided by the arresting agency, Mr. Angelillo filed a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary under the reasoning that the arresting officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the client was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
At the hearing, the arresting officer was questioned in regards to their usage of field sobriety tests on an elderly man, while also having the tests conducted on a sidewalk covered in ice which ran afoul of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Court agreed with Mr. Angelillo and granted his Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension.
The case then proceeded to a stipulated bench trial, where the client was found not guilty; and subsequently had their record expunged of the initial arrest by Mr. Angelillo.
People of The State of Illinois v. V.P.
Client was charged with a Driving Under the Influence in violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-501. The officer initiated the stop in the parking lot area of a gas station after allegedly witnessing the client commit a traffic violation. When speaking with the client, the officer noted observations of slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and an odor of alcohol on the client's breath. After performing field sobriety tests, the client was arrested.
The client sought the help of Mr. Angelillo in defending her in her case. Mr. Angelillo began a careful and thorough review of the evidence, including the officer's dashcam video and arrest report. Mr. Angelillo filed a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension of his client on the grounds that the officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that his client was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
At the hearing, Mr. Angelillo questioned the arresting officer about his observations, that being, that there were other reasonable explanations for his observations, and argued before the Judge that the client's performance of the Field Sobriety Tests was reasonable given that at the time she was dealing with balance issues stemming from a previous injury. The Court agreed with Mr. Angelillo, and granted his Petition to Revoke the Statutory Summary Suspension.
At trial, the Court once again heard the same testimony as was offered during the Petition, and once again ruled in favor of Mr. Angelillo in the form of a NOT GUILTY verdict.
People of The State of Illinois v. J.D.
Client was charged with a Driving Under the Influence in violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-501. The officer initiated the stop in the parking lot area of a Walgreens, the basis for which was due to the officer previously driving past the client in the Walgreens parking lot and witnessing what he believed to be the client smoking drug paraphernalia inside of their vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle found no traces of drugs, or paraphernalia used to consume drugs.
Mr. Angelillo filed a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension of the client on the basis that the officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the client was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs.
At the hearing, Mr. Angelillo questioned the officer about their observations; specifically, that the officer could not state definitively that what he witnessed being consumed was drugs, and that he did not find any evidence of any drug paraphernalia whatsoever.
The Judge agreed with Mr. Angelillo and granted his Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension of the client. The case proceeded to a Bench Trial, where again Mr. Angelillo argued that the State could not meet their burden of proving the client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court agreed, and delivered a NOT GUILTY verdict.
People of The State of Illinois v. R.B.
Client was charged with a Driving Under the Influence in violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-501. The client pulled up to a neighborhood driver's license checkpoint set up by the arresting agency. After successfully producing his license, the officer at the checkpoint asked the client to pull over to the side of the road for an additional investigation to be conducted. After doing so the officer allegedly observed the client had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and an odor of alcohol emanating from his breath.
The officer asked the client out of the vehicle to perform field sobriety tests, which the client agreed to perform. After the completion of the third FST, the officer determined that the client was under the influence of alcohol and had him arrested. Because this was the client's second DUI, he would not be eligible for supervision, and the State was not going to reduce the charge to reckless driving.
After carefully reviewing the video footage of the field sobriety tests and reviewing the evidence provided by the Police. Mr. Angelillo decided to file a Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension of the client on the basis that it was not reasonable for the officer to believe that the client was operating or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
At the hearing, Mr. Angelillo questioned the arresting officer about their observations on the night of the arrest; and that there were other reasonable inferences that could be derived from the client's person other than that they were under the influence of alcohol. Furthermore, Mr. Angelillo questioned the officer's usage of certain field sobriety tests in making their determination. The officer's training provides that individuals of the same size as the client should not perform certain testing given their difficulty in accurately determining intoxication.
The Court agreed with Mr. Angelillo, and granted his Petition to Rescind the Statutory Summary Suspension. The case then immediately proceeded to a stipulated bench trial where the Judge found in favor of the client in the form of a NOT GUILTY verdict.
People of The State of Illinois v. L.L.
Client was charged with a Driving Under the Influence in violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-501. Client was on his way to work early in the morning when he was pulled over by the arresting agency, the arresting officer made observations of the clients person including bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and an inability to understand the questions of the officer. Client was asked to exit the vehicle and perform FSTs, Client agreed to.
Client was then asked to perform a breathalyzer test, which the client refused to do and was subsequently arrested.
After thorough review of the dashboard camera footage, Attorney Angelillo decided to take the case to trial. At which time, Attorney Angelillo cross-examined the arresting officer of their observations made of the Client, as well as, the manner in which the officer conducted the field sobriety tests. Attorney Angelillo argued that the Officer did not have sufficient reasonable articulable suspicion to ask the client to perform FST’s, and therefore, lacked probable cause to effectuate the arrest. The Judge agreed with Mr. Angelillo, and awarded his client a verdict of NOT GUILTY.
People of the State of Illinois v. C.D.
Client was charged with three counts of Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon in violation of 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1). Client was operating a motor vehicle which was not their own when they were pulled over by police. As a consequence of a search that was conducted by the police, a weapon was found inside of the vehicle underneath the front driver mat. Through Mr. Angelillo's own investigation and review of the evidence, he felt confident in having the matter set down for trial due to what he believed to be the inability of the State in proving C.D. guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
On the cases scheduled trial date, the State informed Mr. Angelillo that they would be dropping the charges all together, allowing for Mr. Angelillo's client to walk out of the courtroom free that day.