People v. Ahern

456 N.E.2d 852, 119 Ill. App. 3d 532, 75 Ill. Dec. 31, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2500
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 14, 1983
Docket82-2787
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 456 N.E.2d 852 (People v. Ahern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Ahern, 456 N.E.2d 852, 119 Ill. App. 3d 532, 75 Ill. Dec. 31, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2500 (Ill. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

JUSTICE LORENZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial the defendant, Michael J. Ahern, was convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and improper lane usage (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 95 1/2, pars. 11 — 501(a), 11 — 709(a)), and fined in the sum of $100 and $35 respectively. He appeals, contending that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain the convictions, that the statutes allowing him the right to refuse a breath test and then allowing the admission of that refusal into evidence in a criminal prosecution against him are in violation of the Illinois Constitution, and that the admission into evidence that he refused to take a breath test was erroneous and requires reversal.

The defendant was arrested on July 22, 1982, at 12:30 a.m., near the intersection of Waukegan Road and East Lake Avenue in Glen-view, Illinois. Police officer Donald Hohs testified that he was driving eastbound on the four-lane highway of East Lake Avenue when he saw the defendant emerge from the right lane of Wagner Road and make a wide, right turn into the inner westbound lane of East Lake Avenue. The officer turned his squad car around and drove in a westerly direction behind the defendant for eight blocks. He saw the defendant cross the lane markings in the two westbound lanes about eight times without activating his turn signal, and at times straddle both of the lanes. At one point the defendant crossed the double-yellow center line into the eastbound lane of the highway. When the defendant approached a raised median strip, he drove onto it and then swerved his car back into the inner westbound lane. At this time, the officer activated his emergency lights and the defendant then turned southbound into Waukegan Road and stopped. The officer stated that the defendant traveled within the posted speed limits at all times.

When the officer asked defendant for his driver’s license, he detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. He then asked the defendant to step out of the car, noting that defendant swayed forward as he did so. He asked defendant if he had been drinking, and he replied “a couple.” The defendant was then asked to walk heel to toe to the rear of the squad car, a distance of seven to 10 feet, and to walk back. When the defendant tried he appeared unsure and swayed. Then the officer asked the defendant to get into the squad car, and the defendant requested the officer to give him “a break.” The defendant was also indecisive when he was asked if he would like his car parked or towed, so the officer ordered it towed.

At the station, the officer asked the defendant questions on an alcohol influence report form. The defendant told him he had eaten a sausage pizza at 8:30 p.m. the evening before, had slept for two hours, and had several beers between 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., but that he knew what he was doing. The defendant then took a finger-to-nose test, but refused to take a breathalyzer test. The officer stated that the defendant’s speech was “thick-tongued,” and that in his opinion the defendant “was in a state of intoxication where he should not operate a motor vehicle properly.”

For the defense, Lynn Schmidt testified she is a member of a softball team which the defendant managed and played on. The team members had met to play a game, but the game was cancelled because of rain. Therefter, they went to the Willow Inn, the sponsors of their team. There she saw the defendant drink several beers at the bar while he watched a ball game on television. Thereafter, the defendant left, and later called them to say he had been arrested for drunken driving. The team then put up money for his bail, and she and her husband drove to the station. She said there was nothing unusual about the defendant’s appearance after his release and that they then drove him home. She admitted she had also had something to drink while at the Willow Inn.

Joseph Schmidt corroborated his wife’s testimony, saying that when the defendant left the Willow Inn there was nothing unusual about him and that the defendant “was not under the influence of alcohol where he could not drive a car *** by any means.”

William Geist testified he was also at the Willow Inn and that during the hour before the defendant left, he observed and talked with him often. He did not think the defendant was under the influence of alcohol when he left.

The defendant testified that prior to the softball game he had worked on his job as a salesman until 2:30 p.m. Thereafter, he slept from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., and then ate a pizza. He went to the park between 8:30 and 9 p.m., but it rained. He then joined his teammates a little after 10 p.m., at the Willow Inn. He was wearing his softball outfit and shoes. At the inn he drank three or four Lite beers. Defendant asserted that he was not under the influence of alcohol when he left around midnight and had no difficulty in maneuvering his automobile. He said when he approached the four-lane East Lake Avenue, he stopped for a red light. He initially turned west into the right-hand lane, but there was no traffic near him, or behind him, so he pulled over into the inner lane. He admitted he did not use a turn signal because no one was on the road near him. He had no recollection of crossing lanes or crossing the center line into the eastbound lane. He testified he was familiar with the road, and that he was just short of the median strip when he saw the lights of a police car behind him. He recalled that he slowed down to let the arresting officer know that he recognized him and looked for a safe place to stop. He did not recall driving up on the median strip. When he turned off the highway, he proceeded several hundred feet down Waukegan Road and stopped. The officer then asked him to get out of his car and walk an imaginary line from his car to the bumper of the squad car. He admitted he was concentrating on trying to walk the “line” and show the officer he could do it. He asked the officer if he thought he was all right, and the officer replied, “I think you have had too much to drink,” whereupon he was ushered into the squad car. He told the officer that he had made an extra-wide turn onto the four-lane highway because he was trying to light a cigarette and may have changed lanes inadvertently, but he never got to light the cigarette.

Officer Hohs testified in rebuttal that when the defendant told him he was trying to light a cigarette, he searched the car but did not find any. The cigarettes were in the bottom of a closed zipper pocket of the sweatsuit the defendant was wearing. The defendant testified in surrebuttal that he put the cigarette back into the package when the officer turned on his lights, and that he then put the package back into his pocket.

The defendant first contends that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain the conviction. He points out that of the eight times the officer said he crossed the road markings in an eight-block stretch, one occurred when he entered onto the four-lane road and the next three occurred in the block right after turning onto the road during which time the officer was traveling in the opposite direction before making his “U” turn.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
456 N.E.2d 852, 119 Ill. App. 3d 532, 75 Ill. Dec. 31, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ahern-illappct-1983.