Deputies recognized for DUI enforcement efforts

With hundreds of miles of roadway to patrol, it's no surprise that enforcing traffic laws and keeping the roads safe is a high priority for the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.

And perhaps there is no better way to do that, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said recently, than keeping drunk drivers off county roads.

How serious is the sheriff about that? Just ask the Illinois Department of Transportation, which late last month awarded 16 sheriff's deputies for their efforts to arrest drunk drivers.

The deputies received Illinois DUI Enforcement Awards for making their 25th, 50th, 75th or 100th drunk driving arrest since IDOT began the program in 2001.

"Out of all the traffic enforcement we do, I can't think of anything more important than this," Nygren said. "I take a lot of pride in this agency for that and in the officers who make that a priority."

Recognized for making their 25th DUI arrests last year were deputies Robert Chamberlain, Eric Ellis, Theresa Harper, Michael Hart, William Henniger, David Hutton, Scott Milliman, Dan Patenaude, Alan Sabol, Trevor Vogel and Patrick Waters.

Receiving awards for their 50th drunk-driving arrests were deputies Derek Dillon, Alex Embry, Joann Kinter and Matt Matusek. Deputy Michael Stadler was recognized for arresting more than 75 drunk drivers.

Embry also received an award from the state for his 46 DUI arrests last year, the most of any sheriff's deputy.

Each award recipient received a letter of commendation from the state, a uniform pin denoting the honor as well as a special decal to be displayed in the rear driver's side window of each deputy's squad car.

Supreme challenge: The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to weigh in on the case of a McHenry teen accused of supplying beer to a St. Patrick's Day 2005 party that ended in tragedy when one of its guests suffered fatal injuries while driving home drunk.

Jenna Christopherson, 19, filed a petition to the high court earlier this month asking it to review whether she should be charged with unlawful delivery of alcohol to a minor for hosting the drinking party attended by her high school friends.

The move comes less than three months after a state appellate court, in what was believed to be first-of-its-kind ruling, found that Christopherson could face that charge, even though she herself was a minor.

The ruling overturned an earlier decision to dismiss the case by McHenry County Judge Charles Weech. Weech, in his 2006 decision, ruled that the state statute concerning unlawful delivery of alcohol applies only to adults providing liquor to minors, not minors supplying other minors with booze.

As a result of the appellate court decision, the charge against Christopherson has been reinstated. But before a new trial date is set, Christopherson's lawyers first want the Supreme Court to decide whether Weech or the appellate court is correct.

Although the Supreme Court has the option of whether or not to take on Christopherson's appeal, it is in many ways exactly the kind of case the high court looks to hear. There is no precedent dealing with the issue at hand and it gives the court an opportunity to decide what the law means, or what the legislature meant when it enacted the law.

There is no timeline for when Supreme Court justices will decide whether or not to hear Christopherson's appeal.

The charge against Christopherson stems from her acquisition of two cases of beer for herself and a group of friends.

One of those friends, Jamie Lyn Smith, 17, of Hebron, was driving home drunk from Christopherson's home later that day when she lost control of her car on Route 47 north of Woodstock and struck a utility pole. She died from her injuries eight months later.