What's the next move in DUI case against Lake judge?
Both sides of the DUI and resisting arrest case against Lake County Circuit Judge David Hall said Wednesday they are planning their next move in the wake of a recent appellate court ruling.
Neither Assistant Attorney General Daniel Nikolic nor defense attorney Douglas Zeit could predict a timetable for their decisions, and both have 30 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal.
The 2nd District Appellate Court late Friday said prosecutors could not use the results of a blood-alcohol test done at the time of Hall's 2008 arrest, but reinstated a DUI charge previously thrown out by the judge hearing the case at the local level.
Vernon Hills police stopped Hall's car during the early morning hours of April 28, 2008 after an officer claimed Hall had made a right turn into the wrong lane at routes 21 and 60.
The officer, Jesse Goldsmith, reported that after detecting the odor of alcohol on Hall, he ordered Hall to get out of his car and Hall refused.
After a second officer arrived, police used pepper spray on Hall and he was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Once at the hospital, at least three vials of blood were drawn from Hall and a test later revealed his blood-alcohol level was 0.107 percent, above the legal definition of intoxication of 0.08 percent.
Kane County Judge F. Keith Brown was appointed to hear the case against Hall to avoid any conflict of interest on the part of Lake County judges.
Brown ruled in March 2010 that proper procedures were not followed in the testing and handling of the blood taken from Hall, and the appellate court upheld that ruling.
But it overturned Brown's ruling dismissing a DUI count against Hall and sent the case back to Lake County for further proceedings.
Nikolic said Wednesday officials in his office are studying the appellate court opinion and may appeal the order on the blood test results.
Even if prosecutors concede the loss of the blood test results, along with the loss of Goldsmith's testimony due to his death a few months after the arrest, Nikolic said the resisting arrest charge remains unaffected by the appellate court.
“If nothing else, we will try the resisting charge because we have said all along we intend to pursue all charges in this case,” he said. “If a police officer tells you to get out of your car and you don't, we believe you are resisting arrest.”
Zeit of Waukegan also said Hall's team may appeal the ruling it lost in the appellate opinion.
“We are going to have to study the opinion and decide what to do,” Zeit said. “I do not believe there is any evidence that he (Hall) was intoxicated.”
Hall was early into his first term as chief judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit at the time of his arrest and resigned that post shortly after being charged.
He remains on the bench and is hearing cases in the civil law division.