BELLEVILLE – Attorney David Cates of Swansea successfully alleged misconduct against a police officer who arrested him in January on a drunk driving charge.
On Feb. 26, St. Clair County Associate Judge Tameeka Purchase rescinded his automatic suspension and Cates retained his driver's license. She found no probable cause for his Jan. 6 arrest.
Cates's lawyers John Baricevic and Chet Kelly claimed Fairview Heights police officer Julian Feix tampered with public records and committed official misconduct.
At a hearing on Feb. 16, Purchase found inconsistencies in his statements at the scene, his sworn report, an amended report he issued at the direction of his sergeant who was not on the scene, and his testimony.
She found audio and video didn’t corroborate his testimony that Cates swayed and slurred his speech. She quoted a message from Feix’s sergeant directing him to fix his citation and his report due to the potential of this becoming a high profile case.
Police have charged Cates with drunk driving four times. Twice he pleaded guilty of lesser offenses.
In 2020, a trooper stopped him eastbound on Interstate 64 a day after his mother, Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Judy Cates lost a race for the Illinois Supreme Court.
Special prosecutor Jonathan Barnard of Quincy took the case and found the trooper didn’t test Cates’s breath or apply for a warrant to draw blood.
Barnard and Cates agreed that he would plead guilty and let the court either revoke his license by placing him on probation or place him under supervision.
He also agreed to pay a fine and perform 100 hours of community service.
Last April, Associate Judge Jeffrey Watson ordered two years of supervision.
On July 26, the clerk sent notices to Cates and Kelly stating that Associate Judge Elaine LeChien would review his community service on Oct. 25.
The case file shows no notice to Barnard or any other prosecutor.
Instead of LeChien, Watson presided at the hearing and wrote an order by hand.
Watson found Cates provided proof that he completed 100 hours of service and he directed the clerk to seal the proof.
He found Cates complied with all other conditions of supervision.
“Case closed," Watson wrote. "No further court dates needed.”
Kelly’s initials appear on the page twice, once in big letters at the bottom and once in little letters next to slashes of ink over “case closed.”
No one else’s initials appear at all.
The clerk issued a separate order on a standard form stating attorney Jennifer Mudge, who also serves as a special prosecutor, represented the people and Kelly represented Cates.
The file shows copies for Cates and Kelly but none for Mudge.
The arrest
On Jan. 6 of this year, Cates waited in his 2017 Ford Expedition truck for a light at Frank Scott Parkway and North Illinois Street.
The light changed but Cates didn’t proceed.
A driver behind him got out and knocked on his window.
She called 911 and said he didn’t respond.
She said he appeared to be breathing but not moving. His head was slumped over.
Before police arrived she told the dispatcher he woke up, got out, and wobbled.
She said he walked to Lakeland Square parking lot.
Another driver recognized Cates as an acquaintance and took the wheel. He drove to the parking lot and Cates entered on the passenger side.
Police arrived four minutes after the woman called 911.
Feix reported that Cates said he had no idea what was going on, he was headed home, and he didn’t need an ambulance.
He reported that Cates’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his speech was slurred, he swayed side to side, and an odor of alcoholic beverage emitted from him. He reported that it was about 13 degrees, so he placed Cates under arrest with the intention of conducting sobriety tests at the police department.
He reported that Cates refused to participate in any tests at the department.
Wife Jennifer Cates posted $100 cash bond.
The amended report
On Jan. 10, Feix wrote that he amended his report “due to corrections required to the probable cause statement.”
On Jan. 19, State’s Attorney James Gomric moved to appoint a special prosecutor due to a conflict of interest.
He filed it in the miscellaneous remedy section, but instead of giving it a number in the MR sequence he put the ticket number down as the case number.
This prevented local legal researcher Brad Van Hoose of Belleville from spotting the motion and finding the ticket.
Van Hoose checks the MR docket regularly in order to keep track of special prosecutions.
“That’s probably why they did it,” he said.
Motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence
Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson asked the State’s Attorneys’ Appellate Prosecutor to make an appointment.
The agency again sent Barnard, who worked as Adams County state’s attorney from 2005 to 2017.
On Jan. 27, Cates's attorney Chet Kelly requested a hearing to rescind suspension of the license.
He moved to quash the arrest and suppress evidence on Feb. 7, and he moved to sanction Barnard and police for discovery violations.
He claimed Cates went to dinner with friends who would testify that he wasn’t intoxicated or impaired.
He claimed an unforeseen medical event required Cates to cease driving.
He claimed Feix couldn’t identify the cause of Cates’s distress and Cates couldn’t articulate to Feix the cause of the medical issue.
He claimed Feix violated a Supreme Court rule by holding the ticket for days in order to rewrite his reports.
He claimed that on Jan. 10, Feix was told or recognized that he had not stated sufficient facts to support reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
He claimed Feix altered the citation to allege a violation that consisted of different elements and required less proof.
He claimed Feix stated Cates was unconscious despite the fact that he never observed Cates in his vehicle.
He claimed the informant didn’t report a crime or remain on scene.
He claimed her anonymous tip couldn’t form the basis for an investigatory stop that satisfies the Fourth Amendment.
He claimed Feix’s conduct was illegal and the revised documents must be stricken.
A strange order in 2020 DUI
On Feb. 8, Judge Watson entered an order in the previous case.
He found clerical errors in the order that the system generated in October.
He found it terminated supervision, listed Jennifer Mudge as prosecutor, and titled the order as notice absentia.
He ordered the clerk to change the title to review order, change the prosecutor to Barnard, and change the status to supervision continuing until April 2023.
On Feb. 16, Baricevic entered an appearance for Cates.
Barnard responded to Cates’s motions on Feb. 17, stating he and counsel should be warned of the risks of defaming Feix.
He called the motions “a hyperbolic diversion designed to take focus away from the surplus of evidence demonstrating probable cause.”
He claimed amendment of a citation is permissible if the change is not material or doesn’t alter the elements of the offense.
"This clarification constitutes merely a formal amendment rather than a substantive one as the defendant argues," Barnard wrote.
On Feb. 22, Barnard’s response appeared in the case file and Cates’s motions didn’t.
His motions appeared on Feb. 25, when Purchase granted them.
She found the state failed to turn over certain evidence including camera footage and audio from officers Burgos and Cline.
She ruled that she would draw adverse inferences against the state in regards to events on the night of the arrest.
She barred evidence that would contradict a presumption that Cates was not under the influence of alcohol, drug, or intoxicating compound.