Prosecutors appeal ruling on blood evidence in judge's DUI

The trial of Circuit Judge David Hall on DUI and resisting arrest charges was derailed Monday when prosecutors asked for a higher court review of the ruling barring results of a blood test from the case.

The move by the attorney general's office means there will be no further proceedings until the 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin determines the legality of last week's ruling.

After a two-day hearing, Kane County Circuit Judge F. Keith Brown said March 2 that administrative procedures were not adhered to in the testing of blood drawn from Hall at Advocate Condell Medical Center.

Because of the failure to follow procedures, Brown said, test results showing Hall had a blood-alcohol level of .107 percent would not be admissible at the trial.

Hall, 57, of Waukegan, was arrested by Vernon Hills police in the early morning hours of April 28, 2008 as he drove to his home from a social function.

Police used pepper spray on Hall, who at the time was chief circuit judge in Lake County, when they said he refused to get out of his car.

Hall, who resigned his position as chief judge shortly after the incident but remains on the bench, was taken to the Libertyville hospital where doctors discovered an irregular heart beat.

At least three vials of blood were drawn for medical purposes, but none of the blood was tested for alcohol content at the hospital.

Instead, police took vials to the state police crime laboratory in Westchester on May 15 where the blood-alcohol content testing was performed.

In his ruling, Brown said testing the blood somewhere other than at the hospital where it was drawn violated legal guidelines for handling blood taken from suspects.

Assistant Attorney General William Elward asked Brown to reconsider the ruling Monday, saying prosecutors had established last week that Hall's blood had not been contaminated in any way.

"We established that we were in substantial compliance with the law," Elward said. "Deviation from the administrative code should not automatically exclude the blood evidence."

But Brown said he believed the law was clear in stating all procedures must be followed for the test results to be considered evidence.

"These rules are there to protect innocent people," Brown said. "And they are there to protect someone who may need a public defender as well as someone who may be a judge."

Elward and Assistant Attorney General Daniel Nikolic then announced they were filing the appeal, although Waukegan defense attorneys Douglas Zeit and Jason Mercure said they were ready for trial.

The appellate court is not bound by a specific time frame to rule on the issue, but Zeit said he believed the justices will move quickly.

"I think they will expedite the matter," he said after the hearing. "Judge Brown was right in his ruling, and I believe the justices will see it that way."