Man arrested for DUI by Mundelein police. Attorney fights the case in court - and the judge throws it out. Download the court records
Waukegan DUI attorney Lewis Gainor represented a Lake County man who was pulled over by the Mundelein Police Department and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in 2004. When the driver pulled his vehicle over onto the shoulder, the police officer approached the driver's door and shined his flashlight in the driver's face. He began asking questions about where he had been and whether he had been drinking. Thinking he had done nothing wrong, the driver admitted he had drank a few beers, but swore he was able to drive. The police officer had a different opinion.
The officer told him, "Step out of the vehicle, sir," and directed him to the rear of the squad. There, the officer directed him in how to perform field sobriety tests, including walking an imaginary line, balancing on one leg, etc. The officer did not say anything during the tests, so the driver believed he had passed. He even asked the officer, "May I go now?" The police officer surprised him by saying, "No, you're under arrest. Turn around and place your hands behind your back."
DUI lawyer Lewis Gainor represented his client in the Lake County Circuit Courthouse on June 7, 2005. He defended his client at trial before a judge, and thoroughly questioned the police officer. The officer failed to disclose to the judge in the prosecution's case-in-chief that he had given the field sobriety tests to a person for whom English was not his natural language. The officer did not translate the instructions, so the driver could not understand what he was required to do. That explained his poor performance in the fields.
Lewis Gainor made his closing argument and told the judge that the court could not hold his client criminally liable when he could not understand the verbal instructions. The judge threw the case out.
