HB5776 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 17958 AJT 33327 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB5776

Introduced 2/9/2010, by Rep. Michael G. Connelly

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

625 ILCS 5/11-501.4

from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-501.4

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that in a prosecution of a person accused of violating DUI, reckless homicide, or a similar provision of a local ordinance, the conversion rate to convert blood serum or blood plasma alcohol level to the whole blood equivalent for grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood shall be to divide the blood serum or plasma level by 1.18. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing Section 11-501.4 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/11-501.4) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-501.4)

Sec. 11-501.4. Admissibility of chemical tests of blood or urine conducted in the regular course of providing emergency medical treatment.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the results of blood or urine tests performed for the purpose of determining the content of alcohol, other drug or drugs, or intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof, of an individual's blood or urine conducted upon persons receiving medical treatment in a hospital emergency room are admissible in evidence as a business record exception to the hearsay rule only in prosecutions for any violation of Section 11-501 of this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance, or in prosecutions for reckless homicide brought under the Criminal Code of 1961, when each of the following criteria are met:

(1) the chemical tests performed upon an individual's blood or urine were ordered in the regular course of providing emergency medical treatment and not at the request of law enforcement authorities;

(2) the chemical tests performed upon an individual's blood or urine were performed by the laboratory routinely used by the hospital; and

(3) results of chemical tests performed upon an individual's blood or urine are admissible into evidence regardless of the time that the records were prepared.

(b) The confidentiality provisions of law pertaining to medical records and medical treatment shall not be applicable with regard to chemical tests performed upon an individual's blood or urine under the provisions of this Section in prosecutions as specified in subsection (a) of this Section. No person shall be liable for civil damages as a result of the evidentiary use of chemical testing of an individual's blood or urine test results under this Section, or as a result of that person's testimony made available under this Section.

(c) In a prosecution of a person accused of violating Section 11-501 of this Code, reckless homicide under Section 9-3 of the Criminal Code of 1961, or a similar provision of a local ordinance, the conversion rate to convert blood serum or blood plasma alcohol level to the whole blood equivalent for grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood shall be to divide the blood serum or plasma level by 1.18.

(Source: P.A. 96-289, eff. 8-11-09.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.