Court Opinion

ID: 9744046
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:52:37.142924+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:46.371199
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HEIPLE, dissenting: The sole question presented by this appeal is determining whether the defendant, Timothy L. Pence, was a first time offender under section 11—500 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 95½, par. 11—500) and therefore eligible for a judicial driving permit. Contrary to the majority holding, since more than five years had elapsed between the defendant’s first and second offenses for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), the defendant was a first time offender within the meaning of the statute. Accordingly, I dissent. Section 11 — 500 of the Illinois Vehicle Code provides in relevant part: “For the purposes of interpreting Section 6—206.1 and 6—208.1 of this Code, ‘first offender’ shall mean any person who has not had a previous conviction or court assigned supervision for violating Section 11—501, *** within the last 5 years.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 95½, par. 11—500. Section 11—500 should be interpreted as pertaining to the dates of the violations themselves, not the dates of court orders or the dates of arrests. The dates of the actual DUI violations are the only dates of significance. These are the only events that are constant, certain and truly objective. An arrest might occur at the- time of the violation or some time later. A trial later still. If the reasoning of the majority is applied, it will result in uncertain, disparate and capricious results. In this very case, for instance, even accepting the rationale of the majority, had the defendant pleaded guilty or been tried and found guilty for his first offense at any time between his first violation on October 11, 1982, and December 11, 1982, his second offense on December 12, 1987, would have found him to be outside the five-year statutory period. Since, however, the defendant was first sentenced on December 21, 1982, and then arrested for a second offense on December 12, 1987, the majority finds the defendant to be within the five-year period. The key language in the statute reads, “for violating Section 11—501, *** within the last 5 years.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 95½, par. 11—500.) Here, the defendant’s first DUI violation occurred on October 11, 1982. The defendant’s second DUI violation then took place on December 12, 1987. Thus, a gap of more than five years existed between the two violations and the defendant was, within the definition of the statute, a first time offender when the second DUI violation occurred.