by Lewis Gainor on February 25, 2013
An arrest for driving under the influence is typically a misdemeanor. However, there are some circumstances under which even a first offense can be a felony. For review, a misdemeanor is different from a felony in that the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is less than one year in jail. A felony charge, however, has [...]
by Lewis Gainor on February 17, 2012
A person who is arrested for driving under the influence is confronted with two problems. First, he faces criminal penalties imposed by a court of law. At the present time, a first offense of DUI is categorized as a Class A misdemeanor offense. The potential penalties include up to one year in jail and a [...]
by Lewis Gainor on December 3, 2011
A preferred outcome in many driving under the influence cases is reckless driving. The reason is reckless driving does not impact a person’s driving privileges in the same way as a DUI. The Secretary of State is mandated by law to revoke the driver’s license of any person who is convicted of DUI. The statute [...]
by Lewis Gainor on April 28, 2011
The penalties for an arrest for driving under the influence in Illinois were increased in 2011. A second offense of DUI is still a misdemeanor, but the penalties are far more severe than any other misdemeanor. The law provides that a second offense of DUI is a Class A misdemeanor. The law in Illinois provides [...]
by Lewis Gainor on February 3, 2011
On occasion, a person will get two or more DUIs within a short period of time. Sometimes when this occurs, the person gets the second DUI before appearing in court on the first DUI. Or, he may get the second DUI sometime during the course of appearing in court on the first DUI offense. Where [...]
by Lewis Gainor on December 6, 2010
An arrest for driving under the influence has two consequences on a person’s driving privileges under Illinois law. First, his driver’s license will be suspended 46 days after the date of arrest based on either 1) a breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or 2) a refusal to take the breathalyzer test. The suspension [...]