14 Frequently Asked Question on Illinois Marijuana Usage You Need To Know

Seeing how Illinois legalized marijuana usage, a lot of people do have plenty of the question on the matter and especially related to different aspects of driving under influence. Well, here is some comprehensive information and facts on the matter:

1. First of all, it is very important to understand that the citizens of Illinois are now taking part in the exciting new experiment that may well chance the whole world in the future. Yet, do not forget about the restrictions that are still present. First of all, you are not allowed to have more than one ounce of marijuana at a time. Furthermore, it is strictly forbidden to smoke in the public places. And, of course, as expected, smoking and driving is also against the law. 
2. And while the law states that any Illinois citizen, who reached the age of 21 and above is able to use marijuana for recreational pleasure, do not forget that different cities are using different rules and policies. Now, while you are allowed to carry around and use up to 60 joints – one ounce of pot at a time, even your employer may have his very own policies regarding recreational use and even concerning the time that you are spending in the house. 
3. Now, there is one common misconception – people consider that minor drug offenses are not illegal anymore. And this is not the case – if you were charged with illegal purchase or distribution, or even usage of marijuana, you may lose your student privileges, work-related benefits, different social packages and, of course, it will show in any background check on you – that much is absolutely certain. 
4. Even if you yourself are 21 and wish to share that marijuana with anyone else, who is under that age, it is considered illegal. You cannot do that. In addition, do not forget that if you are driving with marijuana in your pocket and you are under 18, this automatically implies that you will lose your driving privileges. 
5. Do not forget that you cannot sell the weed that you purchased to anyone – it is still illegal. Nevertheless, you can gift not more than one ounce of marijuana to anyone over 21 and it will not be considered illegal, as long as there is no money exchange in it. 
6. A lot of people are wondering if there is a legal limit of how much THC they may have in their system while driving. And the limit is 5 nanograms or less of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol – the active substance in marijuana. Nevertheless, that chart is in the gray area, since it is pretty much impossible to establish what quantity of THC a person has in his blood – this is very much different from alcohol and this is why it is nearly impossible to tell you how many joints you can smoke and get behind the wheel without fear. 
7. In case that the law enforcement officer has any reason to believe that you were in fact driving under the influence of weed, he or she will ask you to submit yourself to the blood test. And these tests are far from being refined – they are very much inaccurate and, chances are, they will be incorrect. In some of the cases they demonstrate that a person is stoned even hours after smoking anything and in other cases a person may be completely sober, whereas the test indicates that he or she still has too much THC in the system. Hence, perhaps it would be wise to refuse to submit to the blood test to begin with. However, even if you decided to submit, make sure that you will get a blood sample as well, to test it independently in the future, if something goes wrong. 
8. Of course, there is a certain risk that you are going to lose the driving privileges for refusing to submit to the blood test to begin with. Yet, you can always politely refuse to submit yourself to the different field sobriety tests, without having to fear for any kind of legal consequences. 
9. In fact, the field sobriety tests are very much subjective and very much depend on how the law enforcement officer sees your actions. Hence, these cannot really be trusted and you can refuse to take part in those to begin with. 
10. While some people are eager to tell you that driving while being stoned is a lot safer than driving under the influence of alcohol, think about something – the perception of the environment is blurred and the reaction time increases, so would you like for such a driver to drive around the roadways? 
11. In case that you are using medical marijuana and you have a special card that allows you to do that, you cannot be arrested for driving under intoxication and this is not the probable cause for the blood test as well. 
12. Just like with alcohol, driving around with an open package of marijuana is also illegal. If the seal was broken, the law enforcement officer will put and administrative penalty on you. Hence, make sure you put it as far away as possible – preferably inside the trunk of the vehicle. 
13. Even if you are a passenger, you cannot smoke marijuana in the back seat. Furthermore, you cannot smoke weed in the taxi. The only exception is the private hired car – there you can smoke weed on the back seat legally and without breaking any kind of laws. 
14. The legal regulations on the matter are quite new and do not work as they were meant to yet, so make sure that you keep up with all the latest news and recent updates about marijuana use and DUI in order to stay away from the trouble. For now, it is still a gray area and one that does require plenty of clarification. Only a professional DUI attorney would know how to develop a defense strategy in case you were arrested for Marijuana DUI.

If you need a professional assistance for your marijuana DUI case, call Law Offices of Chicago DUI Experts directly, or email us using contact page.

The Pre-Trial Process For Illinois DUI

In case that the law enforcement officer will have reasons to believe that you were driving under the influence of alcohol, he will pull you over and will administer special field sobriety tests. In addition, in order to determine with better precision if you are drunk, the law enforcement officer will probably administer the breathalyzer test, which is delivering more accurate results. In case the police officer is going to decide that you need to be placed under arrest, he or she will be required to immediately notify you of your driver’s license suspension within 30 days after the arrest. In addition, the officer will need to file the official copy of the notice of suspension of the driver’s license along with the driver’s license itself to the DMV.

With that done, the law enforcement officer is going to take you to the police station or even to a hospital in order to administer a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) blood test. If in case of the breathalyzer test, the results are instant, when it comes to the blood tests – results are a lot more accurate, but may take up to several days. In most cases, the suspect will be held in the facility if the test results will arrive within several hours. However, once the DUI tests are administered (or once the suspect refuses to submit him or herself to the tests), the suspect will be booked and released.

After you are going to be arrested and before you are going to be released, you will get the official date for the arraignment, which is basically the pre-trial hearing. During this arraignment, the judge is going to explain what you were charged with and what kind of rights you currently have. These include the right of legal counsel of course. Furthermore, during the arraignment, the two parties (both the prosecution and the defense) will be able to exchange all the evidence they have. Such an exchange is without a doubt mutually beneficial and allows building a stronger case. Furthermore, during that very hearing, if the defendant does not have the money to hire a lawyer, the court will ask him or her to fill out all the paperwork indicating the financial situation and, if the judge will deem it appropriate, the defendant will be granted a public defender.

Finally, in case that you do not want your driver’s license to be revoked, it is very important, crucial even, to make sure that you are going to initiate an administrative DMV hearing within 10 days after the arrest took place. That way you are going to fight against this decision. The DMV has nothing to do with the criminal hearing, but they do have one thing in common. In both cases, you will need to have a qualified as well as genuinely experienced legal representative by your side in order to make the most from it.

Find more information about DUI process here: www.chicagoduilawyernow.com

DUI Vehicular Manslaughter Charges and Possible Consequences

Roads and highways of the nation are pretty much filled with all sorts of vehicles these days. Their number is constantly growing, so it is only natural that more and more people are injured or even killed in all sorts of car accidents every single year. In some cases, there is no one to blame for the accident – it was just a tragic misfortune that was caused by uncontrollable factors, such as weather conditions. Nevertheless, all too often there is a party that is responsible for producing the collision to being with. This happened due to human negligence or even because of the fact that people were operating their vehicles under the influence of alcohol. Indeed, the official statistical data clearly demonstrates that more and more people choose to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol. No doubt, in case a person was killed by another individual, who, let us say, was Driving Under the Influence of alcohol, there can be no excuse for the loss of human life at all. Nevertheless, in most of the cases, people sincerely repent of committing such a crime and we all make errors, even if some of those errors are hurting the people around us.

With that said, at times, alcohol is not the matter – people are simply under too much stress as well as tension to notice what is going around them and they are driving in a genuinely frantic manner. They are neglecting the flashing red lights, speeding, changing the lanes improperly. Furthermore, do not forget that a lot of people are suffering from different medical conditions, so accidents are triggered due to those medical issues. Of course, it is a very important factor that will need to be taken into consideration by the court. Hence, people are interested in learning just what kind of penalties result from vehicular manslaughter. Well, this very much depends on the state’s laws and legislation. However, when it comes to cases of vehicular manslaughter that were caused by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the court will prove to be quite intolerant indeed. This very much may imply that the defendant will be convicted and will have to spend up to 15 years in prison, which is a pretty harsh sentence on its own.

Regardless of the circumstances of the vehicular manslaughter case, it is rather difficult to come up with a solid defense strategy. Hence, the very first thing that you will need to do would be hiring a qualified as well as genuinely experienced attorney who specialize in Chicago DUI criminal defense. Only a skillful criminal attorney will have the knowledge and, more importantly, the experience to help you. Good lawyers will be able to gather more evidence that would point out that numerous factors caused the accident and not only your negligence alone. After all, it is very easy to judge others if you do not know the circumstances of the crime and how it all went in truth.

The Chicago DUI Experts

Basic Information About Underage DUI Charges

Sadly, the official statistical data clearly demonstrates that more and more people are injured or even killed during the DUI accidents in Chicago. It is all the more tragic that many underage individuals do not think that it is dangerous to drink alcohol and to get behind the wheel afterwards. Too many people suffered the consequences of such negligence and disregard for other people’s safety.

With that said, after a recent Chicago DUI accident five people ended up in the hospital – two of them in critical condition. The driver, who was involved in an accident, is only 19 years old. The law enforcement authorities established that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Furthermore, he had a 15 years old passenger. He managed to hit an SUV vehicle that overturned and collided with another car – there was also a fourth vehicle involved in the incident. All five of the victims were taken to the hospital and two of them still remain in critical condition.

The 19 years old driver is also in the hospital and a police officer is there with him too. Seeing how California has a Zero Tolerance law when it comes to underage DUI.

DUI is without a doubt a very serious offense and, unfortunately, one that takes place way too often these days. The penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol are quite severe. Furthermore, there is a certain threshold of BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration), which is allowed for adults - .08%. However, in case the driver is not yet 21 years of age, the legal BAC limit is even lower. Moreover, the state of California has a Zero Tolerance law with regards to underage DUI. This basically implies that an underage driver has no right to have any alcohol in his or her system while behind the wheel of the vehicle. Despite the fact that legal consequences for driving under the influence of alcohol differ from state to state, these are genuinely severe and will imply a detrimental impact on one’s day to day living.

In order for you to understand just how serious the matter really is, here is some official statistics that may well clear things up a bit:

• Almost 30% of all underage drivers (15-20 years of age), who were killed in car collisions, were drinking. 
• If we take the sane age range, more make drivers (24%) were killed in DUI accidents when compared to females (12%), who were killed in DUI accidents. 
• During a survey, more than 28% of high school students in America did say that they were driving a car under the influence of alcohol at least once in their lives. 
• Furthermore, more and more teenage drivers neglect even the most basic safety measures and disregard to wear seat-belts after drinking. Hence, if we take that age group, nearly 75% of all the drivers involved in fatal collisions were not wearing seat belts when the accident took place. 
• By the 8th grade more than 40% of children have drunk at least a few sips of alcohol and 20% of those children stated that they were drunk at least once. 
• By the time they graduated, 75% of high school seniors states that they have consumed more than a few sips of alcohol and 5% of the same age group admitted to being drunk at least once before. 
• In the age group between 15 and 20, nearly 11 million people admitted that they were drinking alcohol at least once in the past month. 6% of those admitted to being heavy drinkers and only 18,8% to binge drinking. 

Of course, in case your teenage son or daughter were charged with Chicago DUI, there is a big chance that those charges will have a very negative impact on his or her life indeed. Hence, it is very important to get in touch with a qualified as well as genuinely experienced Chicago DUI attorney, who will be able to use one of the following defense strategies in court:

• Your son or daughter were not the ones behind the wheel 
• The testing gear for DUI was not working properly, 
• The arresting officer, who was performing the DUI testing was not following the official procedures, 
• The results were within the margin of error for acceptable BAC levels, 
• Your son or daughter’s BAC was rising during the test and this could be an indication that it was lower before, 
• Another source of alcohol was present – mouthwash for example, 
• Your son or daughter had a medical conditions, such as GERD or reflux for example, 
• Your son or daughter were on a high protein and low carbohydrate diet, • The traffic stop was unlawful to begin with, 
• The arrest was unlawful to begin with, 
• The arresting officer did not tell you about your rights.

If you were arrested and charged with DUI in Chicago, you need help of a professional Chicago DUI lawyer to avoid harsh penalties. Call our law offices at (888) 828-2305 or use online contact form to request case review.

Law Offices of Chicago DUI Experts

How To Interact With The Police After Being Pulled Over

Needless to say, in case you are a typical law abiding citizen, who never broke any legal regulations, you do not have any experience at interacting with the law enforcement representatives. That is right – most people, who never had to deal with police officer before, will be genuinely frightened as well as nervous and anxious in case they will be pulled over by a cop car. Even if they know that what they did was a minor infraction, they may still be scared and will not know how to react. Well, if that is the case, we simply cannot help but recommend you to definitely learn more about some of the possible ways you should talk to the police. Keep in mind – you have your legal rights and it is very important that you use them properly.

One way or the other, it is obvious that you will be stressed. Right when you will see the police lights in the rear mirror, you will begin to frantically think about the things you may have done wrong. You will begin to think how you can justify your actions and will become even more nervous in the process. This is where it is very important, crucial even, not to let the stress take over you. Here are some things you will need to keep in mind in order to make your interaction with the police as stress free as possible:

• First of all, look around to find the safest area for you to pull over. It is best to find a spot, where the police car will be able to pull over behind you without any problems. In addition, if you are driving at night, try and find a space with plenty of light. These actions will demonstrate to the law enforcement officers that you are taking their safety into serious consideration. 
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• Do not forget to turn on your turn signal, slow down and proceed to pulling over. 
• Make sure to get your keys from the ignition. Put them on the dashboard for the police officers to see. 
• Do not be stressed, try to relax and take a couple of deep breaths. 
• Roll down the window from your side. 
• In case it is dark, do not forget to turn on the interior lights. 
• Keep in mind that all of your movements will need to be slow and you will not want to move frantically, so the police officer would not suspect that you are trying to reach for a weapon or perhaps are attempting to hide something. 
• It is best to put your hands on the steering wheel, without trying to reach for something. 
• Once the law enforcement officer will approach the vehicle, allow him or her to speak first. In the vast majority of cases the police officer will want to see your license as well as your registration. 
• Get your license and registration slowly, without any sudden movements, hand them over to the police officer and place your hands back on the steering wheel. 
• Remember to be polite and to answer any kind of question the officer will ask you. 
• Follow the officer’s orders and do what he or she tells you. 

Sure enough, being pulled over by the law enforcement officer is stressful one way or the other. Nevertheless, in case you are going to be following the above-mentioned rules, there is a bigger chance that it will not turn into an unpleasant experience.

On TV as well as in the movies we have seen a million times that the law enforcement officers are required to have a special search warrant in order to search a house or any kind of property. This is a very accurate fact and the police may get a warrant to search one’s residence or office in case they have a reasonable cause. This means that they will have the right to search the house, the office and even any cars that may be parked on the property. The law enforcement officers in these cases will need to knock, announce that they are with the police (unless the warrant specifies that they have the right to enter the property unannounced) and may even have the right to use force in order to enter. In addition, the police officer is not obligated to demonstrate the warrant to the occupants of the property. This is why it is essential to know your rights.

Nevertheless, the law enforcement officers do not have the right to search any person found on the property. Not unless there is probable cause and reasons to believe that the person or group of people is dangerous and poses and actual threat.

The following are the requirements for issuing a search warrant in the state of California:

• The property was embezzled or stolen 
• The property may contain child pornography 
• There is an active warrant that was issued for a person’s arrest 
• A deadly weapon, such as a firearm was used on the scene 
• A person with mental disorders possesses a weapon 
• An individual with a restraining order or on probation possesses a weapon and does not want to release it 
• The investigator has managed to demonstrate a probable cause to the judge 

Also, do not forget about the Miranda rights that go as follows:

• The right to remain silent 
• Anything you are going to say or do may and will be used against you in the court of law 
• You have the right to be represented by an attorney 
• In case you are unable to afford the attorney, a public lawyer will be appointed to you 
• Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you? 

One way or the other, in case you or perhaps your loved ones were charged with some kind of crime and do not know what to do next, the best solution would be getting in touch with a qualified as well as genuinely experienced legal representative at the earliest opportunity.

Law Offices of Chicago DUI Experts

How To Look For The Right Las Vegas DUI Lawyer

The Chicago DUI Experts, it is possible to defeat a DUI with a good defense strategy.

DUI charges represent something that most people will want to steer clear from. Still, we all make mistakes and driving under the influence of alcohol is sadly becoming something common. Nevertheless, before getting behind the wheel after drinking some alcohol, consider the possible consequences. After all, the law enforcement authorities do not take the DUI offenders lightly.

With that said, typical legal penalties for Chicago DUI offenders may include expensive fines, community service, alcohol or drug awareness Chicago DUI classes, the need to acquire new insurance for high-risk drivers, the requirement to install an ignition interlock device inside your vehicle and even jail or prison time, depending on the circumstances of the crime.

Furthermore, do not forget that the very first thing that the arresting officer is going to do will be taking your driving license away from you. Of course, you will be provided with a temporary permit, which will allow you to operate your vehicle for 30 more days. However, after this term ,the license is going to be revoked or suspended. In case you wish to restore it, you will need to initiate an administrative DMV hearing within 10 days after the accident took place, otherwise you will lose your chance and your license will be gone for several years.

One way or the other, it is pretty much impossible to deal with all those legal consequences on your own. You do not have the knowledge and the experience to help you handle the situation properly. You will need to find a qualified as well as genuinely professional legal representative to handle the matter for you. Sure enough, the market these days is filled with all kinds of legal representatives, all of whom will always be more than happy to represent you. Nevertheless, you will want to be dealing with a great expert in order to get the best results. Well, in order to find one, you will probably want to check out some of the referrals. Indeed, people do not usually talk about it, but if you are going to ask around, chances are, you will find friends and loved ones who had to deal with the similar issue before and who could guide you towards a good Chicago DUI lawyer who can try to dismiss your charges.

There is the World Wide Web – it is filled with all kinds of reviews and testimonials that come from actual clients of various Chicago DUI attorneys. It is also a good way to find the right Chicago DUI attorney to help you. Finally, the initial consultation with most lawyers is free of charge and this is when a good lawyer is going to provide you with all the possible defense strategies that may work for your case. It is important to make sure that the lawyer is honest with you and you will have to be honest with him as well. This is when you can make an informed decision in line with all of the gathered info and facts.

What To Expect On Chicago Administrative DUI Hearing

The very first thing that is going to happen to you in case you will be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substances will be the law enforcement officer taking your driver’s license from you. You will be provided with a temporary permit, which will allow you to operate your vehicle for 30 more days. Afterwards, your license will be revoked. In case you wish to avoid such a scenario and you need to keep your license, it is important to initiate an administrative Chicago DUI hearing within 10 days after the accident took place.

Discover facts you didn't know about Chicago Secretary of State DUI hearing here

With that said, an administrative Chicago DUI hearing is a separate hearing and it has nothing to do with the criminal court hearing. The decisions made in criminal court will not affect the DUI hearing and not the other way around. You can either attend the hearing in person, accompanied by your legal representative or you can conduct the hearing via telephone, which is much more convenient for all parties. First of all, the Secretary of State officer will want you to identify yourself. You will do so by telling your name, your date of birth as well as your address. Subsequently, the attorney is going to identify himself as well by stating his name and address.

The Secretary of State officer will want you to swear that you are going to tell the truth and you can start the hearing. The Chicago Secretary of State officer is going to name all the evidence that is available against you. It generally consists of witness testimonies and police reports. Your legal representative will try to counter that by putting under doubt the police reports and how the law enforcement officer describes the night for the arrest. Nevertheless, in most cases, the Secretary of State officer already knows that you were driving under the influence of alcohol and/or illegal substances, so it will be your word against the words of the law enforcement officer who arrested you and his statement is going to be much more believable.

This is why it is so important, crucial even, to have a qualified as well as genuinely experienced legal representative by your side during the Chicago DUI hearing. Only a skillful attorney will have what it takes to present a powerful argument, which will make the Secretary of State officer doubt the police report. This will trigger a reaction and a second DUI hearing is going to be held later on in order to question the arresting officer as well. One way or the other, if you do not want to lose your driving privileges, you will need to think about hiring a professional lawyer to represent you during the DUI hearing.