OTTAWA - St. Clair County Associate Judge Tameeka Purchase erred when she dismissed Belleville lawyer David Cates' misdemeanor charge for driving under the influence, Third District appellate judges ruled on Dec. 5.
Justices Joseph Hettel and Linda Davenport concurred in the ruling.
Justice Adrienne Albrecht disregarded Purchase’s finding that Fairview Heights officer Julian Feix lacked probable cause to arrest Cates.
“As a legal arrest is not a prerequisite to prosecution, it follows that lack of probable cause to arrest does not act to bar the prosecution or as an effective dismissal of the charges,” she wrote.
Albrecht wrote that the state is not required to establish cause to proceed on a misdemeanor.
“We further note that even if the state must demonstrate probable cause to proceed with the case, a finding that Feix lacked probable cause to arrest is not equivalent to a finding that the state did not have probable cause to charge or further prosecute defendant,” she wrote.
Third District judges heard the appeal out of St. Clair County because Cates’s mother, Judy Cates, serves as a justice of the Fifth District in Mount Vernon.
Feix arrested David Cates in January 2022, and the state automatically suspended his license.
Cates petitioned to rescind the suspension, and Purchase held a hearing.
Feix testified that he responded to a call about a male who passed out behind the wheel of a white Ford pickup in a traffic lane.
Feix arrived and found the truck nearby in a parking lot.
A witness indicated Cates was the person she saw behind the wheel.
Albrecht wrote, “Defendant admitted to drinking alcohol but could not quantify how much he drank.”
“Feix testified that he observed defendant had glassy eyes and told defendant as much,” she added.
“He also told defendant his glassy eyes as well as the fact that he was reportedly found unconscious behind the wheel and did not know what happened indicated to Feix that defendant was impaired,” she continued.
Albrecht wrote that he testified he smelled alcoholic beverage and Cates swayed while standing.
“He did not perform any field sobriety tests or a breath test due to the extreme cold that day and because he believed he had probable cause without performing those tests,” she wrote.
Purchase rescinded the suspension, finding Feix lacked probable cause to arrest Cates.
She found Feix’s testimony unpersuasive and inconsistent.
Special prosecutor Jon Barnerd of Quincy appealed.
Cates moved to dismiss for lack of probable cause, and Purchase granted it.
Barnerd appealed again.
Third District judges affirmed rescission of suspension earlier this year, but their opinion on dismissing the charge puts Cates’s license at risk.
Albrecht wrote that Barnerd is free to produce evidence that Cates and Purchase may not have known at the time Cates filed the motion to dismiss.
Former St. Clair County Chief Judge John Baricevic and Chet Kelly represent Cates.