Attorney: Elgin woman facing 5th DUI will seek treatment if bond lowered
The attorney for a 30-year-old woman facing charges of her fifth DUI — including three from July — says the woman will seek alcohol treatment if her bond is reduced.
Tiara Norris, of the 1700 block of Capital Street, Elgin, was being held on $350,000 bail and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Norris has been at the Kane County jail for about a month. If she pays $35,000 to be released, she would be required to wear a 24-hour alcohol monitoring bracelet.
Defense attorney Randolph Bloomberg has asked Judge Thomas Stanfa to reduce Norris’ bail or to release her on recognizance.
Bloomberg wrote in court papers that if his client is released, her estranged husband’s insurance will pay for treatment. She would also consider a 28-day inpatient addiction rehabilitation and intensive aftercare programs.
Bloomberg also argued that Norris needs to provide stability for her 4-year-old daughter.
“Tiara misses her daughter greatly. Presumably, the converse is the same,” Bloomberg wrote.
According to court records, Norris was most recently arrested July 29 after a resident on the 11N700 block of Win Haven Drive near Elgin called authorities to report a vehicle driving through someone’s front lawn. Kane County Sheriff’s deputies found Norris in the car with the keys on her lap, authorities said.
Norris admitted to drinking and driving to the area, and was charged with felony DUI for her fifth DUI arrest, along with DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of .16 or more, according to court records.
Norris also was arrested July 10 and July 23 in Gilberts on DUI charges. In the first case, she was pulled over for speeding and a preliminary breath test registered a .32; in the second arrest, an officer found her car in a ditch at 6:30 a.m., court records showed.
She also pleaded guilty to an August 2012 DUI arrest in Lake in the Hills; information about her first DUI arrest was not available.
Her next court date is Thursday in Kane County.