The bond of a 26-year-old Illinois man facing felony drunk driving charges was increased to $500,000 on Jan. 4 even though the monitoring bracelet he has been ordered to wear did not indicate that he had consumed alcohol. A DeKalb County judge decided to increase the man’s bond after hearing that he had previously violated the terms of his bail and failed to appear in court on two separate occasions.
DeKalb resident has been charged with aggravated DUI resulting in death and DUI causing serious bodily harm in connection with a May 2017 accident near Northern Illinois University that claimed the life of a 23-year-old graduate student. The conditions of his $20,000 recognizance bond require him to abstain from alcohol, wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet and not allow alcohol near the device. The man was taken into custody in December after the Electronic Home Monitoring Division of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office determined that he had visited a friend’s home and spent more than four hours at a neighborhood bar.
While law enforcement was not able to establish in court that the man consumed alcohol during his visit to the bar, erratic voltage readings recorded by the monitoring bracelet are said to suggest that steps had been taken to prevent the device from working as intended. The man is scheduled to appear in court again for a status hearing on Jan. 31.
Cases involving serious crimes such as felony drunk driving are usually resolved by negotiated plea agreements, but it can be difficult for even experienced defense attorneys to secure favorable outcomes for clients who show disdain for the criminal justice system. Attorneys may urge defendants who wish to avoid long periods of incarceration to honor the terms of their bail, appear in court when required and take their predicaments seriously.
Source: The Daily Chronicle, Visit to bar lands suspect charged with DUI in fatal crash behind them, Christopher Heimerman, Jan. 5, 2018