Turn and Face the Strange Ch-ChChanges1 Supreme Court Amends Hearsay Exception Rule
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BY HON. CHARLES JOHNSON
n March 13, 2016, Ryan James Deroo was driving his Grandma’s car on Turkey Hollow Road in Rock Island County when he lost control of the car, which flipped over several times and crashed into a ditch.2 Deroo was charged with Aggravated Driving Under the Influence,3 based on his four prior DUI convictions. At trial, the State introduced testimony of an eyewitness to the crash, as well as the medical records of Deroo’s treatment at an emergency room that night. These included blood tests that were performed as part of his treatment, which disclosed the presence of alcohol in Deroo’s blood.4 Deroo, for his part, testified that he was not driving the car at the time of the crash, but instead that a person known only as Hon. Charles “T” was driving. Deroo knew nothD. Johnson ing more about “T,” including where has been an he came from or where he went after Associate Judge for the the accident. This rock-solid defense 19th Judicial apparently was insufficient, as Deroo 123
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Bowie, David “Changes” UK: RCA Records. 1972. RCA 2160. People v Deroo, 2022 IL 126120, ¶4. Deroo was charged with Agg DUI: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2),(d)(2)(D); Agg DUI per se: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(1), (d)(2) (D); and Agg Driving While Suspended: 625 ILCS 5/6-303(d). .209 BAC; 2022 IL 126120, ¶¶4, 9.
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was convicted of the charged offenses and sentenced to nine years on the DUI and three on the Driving While Suspended. This relatively prosaic felony DUI case then turned into a fascinating decision on the business records exception to the hearsay rule. Deroo appealed his conviction, alleging that the State’s introduction of his blood test results violated Illinois Rule of Evidence 803(6), which provides:
Circuit since 2005. He was an assistant Lake County State’s Attorney from 1990 to 1994, and a local prosecutor from 1994 to 2005. He is currently assigned to the Criminal Division.
RULE 803. HEARSAY EXCEPTIONS; AVAILABILITY OF DECLARANT IMMATERIAL The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness: ***
