By Ted Gregory Tribune staff reporter June 27, 2001
The latest thorn in the side of law enforcement efforts to curb drunken driving comes in a passport-sized booklet. And it talks.
"Officer, please understand that I will only exit the vehicle for your safety or if under arrest," the automated male voice announces when a button on the cover is pushed. "Please read the enclosed for additional information."
That is the 10-second essence of what police officers are calling "the black box." Its commercial name is Ramsell's Roadside Rights, named for Don Ramsell, the Wheaton attorney who believes police run roughshod over motorists and wants them to be prepared when stopped for driving while intoxicated.
Available for $99.95 and marketed via the Internet, the kit instructs the driver to roll down the window just enough to slip a driver's license and insurance card to the officer, put the booklet's speaker to the window opening and press the button.
The driver then should hand the officer a card that includes a refusal to answer any questions without an attorney present or to submit to sobriety tests.
The recording and the card are intended to prevent the officer from getting too close to observe the driver's behavior or obtain any evidence that can be used against the driver if arrested and charged with DUI. And without observations, and more importantly, results from a field sobriety test and Breathalyzer, conviction is difficult.
That's why Roselle Police Detective John Lawson dislikes the kits. He said he sees them as likely boosting the number of drivers who refuse sobriety tests, which possibly could mean more drunken motorists on the road.
Lawson wants to strengthen DUI laws in Illinois by giving motorists a reason to think twice before refusing sobriety tests. Now, both field tests and Breathalyzers can be refused without consequence.
For five years, Lawson has lead a coalition that includes the city of Chicago, Gov. George Ryan and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police to push for a law that would require an Illinois secretary of state hearing if a motorist refuses a field sobriety test.
If the hearing officer determines that the officer was correct in seeking the sobriety test, the driver would lose his or her license for six months.
Ramsell has been aggressively defending those charged with DUI for 15 years. He has been arrested twice on suspicion of DUI and acquitted both times.
"There's a lack of trust going on the streets," he said. "There's a bit of the sentiment that it's time to take back the streets."
Hundreds of the kits have been sold, said Ramsell, president-elect of the DuPage County Bar Association.
He wants to make money on the kits, but he also is fighting against what he sees as anti-DUI efforts that are too aggressive.
"A, police stretch the truth in DUI cases," Ramsell said. "B, the field sobriety tests they give is junk science. C, the Constitution is alive and well. Use it. And, D, This actually levels the playing field."
Illinois State Police report that the number of motorists who refused to take field sobriety tests last year rose to 2,445, about one in three. That is a 62 percent jump from 1997 figures when 17.7 percent of motorists stopped on suspicion of DUI refused sobriety tests.
In the one court case where the kit was used, a McHenry County jury in February acquitted the driver after noting too many discrepancies in police officers' recollection of the arrest.
"The book that he had didn't really have an effect," foreman John Prushinski, of Wonder Lake, said of motorist Colin Darling, 48, of Crystal Lake. "The police's credibility just wasn't there."
Ramsell concedes the kit has angered law enforcement officials and prosecutors across the state. He is undaunted.
"Why would I care if it ties the hands of police?" Ramsell said. "I don't want it to come off that I don't like cops but ... they work for the people. If this creates a little discussion about how we have gone too far, it's probably serving its greatest purpose."