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Posted: Wednesday, 09 December 2009 6:48AM
Joliet smoking conviction reversed by higher court
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JOLIET, Ill. (STNG) -- Late last year, a Will County jury found a southwest suburban Joliet woman guilty of violating the state's smoking ban.
Now a higher court has reversed that decision.
Daniel O'Day, the Peoria lawyer who has represented several local residents and others around the state who have been charged with violating the 2008 law, heard the news Tuesday morning. And he certainly was pleased.
"For a year and a half or more, smokers in Illinois were terrorized by threats of arrest for misdemeanors or petty offenses," O'Day said Tuesday afternoon. "That turned out to be bogus, according to the Illinois Appellate Court."
His client is Kathleen Kane, 56, of 702 Ingalls Ave. in Joliet.
One day in March 2008, she was at Woody's at 1008 W. Washington St. in Joliet. At the time, Kane worked tending bar there, but she wasn't on the clock when the arrest happened, O'Day said. A Joliet police officer and a representative from the Will County Health Department stopped at the bar and ticketed Kane and others for smoking inside the building, O'Day said.
After Kane was convicted, O'Day filed an appeal.
The higher court ruled Monday that Kane's case should have been handled administratively, not as a criminal matter in the court system.
The fine and court costs totaling $231 will be refunded, O'Day said.
With local co-counsel Ted Hammel, the Peoria lawyer has several similar cases pending in Will County. They'll be in court Dec. 16, he said.
"Now they will have to be dismissed," O'Day predicted.
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Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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