Woman exonerated after arrest sues over Lake Co.'s DUI crackdown
A Libertyville woman who was found not guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2008 has filed a class-action lawsuit challenging Lake County's "no-refusal weekend" program.
The suit comes after Cheryl Yachnin spent 13 hours in Lake County jail for refusing to submit to a Lake County judge's order to have her blood drawn by police trying to prove she was operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Yachnin, through attorney Keith Hunt of Hunt and Associates in Chicago, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court asking for the county's "no-refusal weekend" law enforcement events be declared a violation of the federal and state constitutions.
The programs -- one has been conducted in Lake County and several have been done in Kane County -- allow police to obtain search warrants for suspected drunken drivers who refuse to take a breath test. Prosecutors and judges are on call to issue a search warrant requesting the tests be done under penalty of contempt of court if the suspect continues to refuse.
The lawsuit names the village of Libertyville, the Libertyville Police Department, Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller, former Libertyville police chief Patrick Carey, and Libertyville officer James Finn as defendants.
Hunt did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment about the suit. Libertyville Village Administrator Kevin Bowens also was unavailable for comment.
However, Daniel Jasica, chief deputy of the Lake County State's Attorneys Office, said he believes the law was followed in Yachnin's arrest on Aug. 29, 2008.
"All applicable constitutional and other procedural safeguards were in place and fully complied with when this took place," he said. "There was a judicial determination of probable cause that was made within no more than two hours of her arrest. And that judge determined there was cause she was driving under the influence, which is why a search warrant was issued for her."
According to the court document, Yachnin was pulled over by Finn about 11:30 p.m. and suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. After failing a field sobriety test, Yachnin was taken to the Libertyville police station where she refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
Yachnin was taken to Vernon Hills, where a prosecutor applied for and a judge approved a search warrant ordering her to take a Breathalyzer or blood test, the suit states.
When she refused the judge's order, she was charged with contempt of court and DUI, and taken to Lake County jail. However, Yachnin was found not guilty of DUI, according to the lawsuit, and the criminal contempt charge against her was thrown out of court in October 2009.
In all, Libertyville Police received convictions on 17 of 18 arrests during that "no-refusal weekend", police said.
The lawsuit asks that Lake County refrain from holding "no-refusal weekends," and requests the driving records of any person charged or convicted of a DUI during the 2008 program be expunged.
It also seeks damages for anyone who was charged or convicted during that "no-refusal weekend", and for Yachnin for being falsely arrested and for malicious prosecution.
This is the first lawsuit filed against the constitutionality of "no-refusal" in Lake County. The same program has been challenged twice in Kane County, but both were dismissed.