Champaign police detective facing DUI charges
| 
URBANA – A Champaign police officer is due back in court later this month after being arrested early Sunday for driving under the influence of alcohol.Detective Lisa Staples, 39, was arrested just before 3 a.m. Sunday for driving the wrong way on Interstate 72 just west of the Mahomet exit, according to Illinois State Police Sgt. Bill Emery.
She was alone in an unmarked Champaign police car. A Champaign officer for 11 years, Staples has been placed on administrative leave with pay while the depart- ment does an internal investigation, Police Chief R.T. Finney said.
Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz has asked that a special prosecutor be appointed to review Staples' criminal case because of her office's working relationship with Staples.
"We have many open cases in which she is the lead detective," Rietz said. "I have known her for many years."
Emery said about 2:30 a.m., state police started receiving calls of a driver going west in the eastbound lanes of I-72. State police sent out emergency messages to all police agencies to look for that motorist at 2:39 a.m. and at 2:44 a.m.
At 2:53 a.m., Emery said, a Piatt County sheriff's deputy and Monticello police had stopped the car just west of Mahomet.
Emery said upon learning that Staples was the driver and that she was a Champaign police officer in an unmarked squad car, the officers asked state police to handle the investigation.
Emery said the trooper determined that she was under the influence of alcohol and took her to the Champaign County jail in Urbana.
Court records show she was there just over two hours before posting bond to be released. She was ordered to appear in court Dec. 19.
Emery said there was no indication in the preliminary report if Staples took a breath test.
Besides being arrested for DUI, she was ticketed for driving the wrong way on a divided highway and for not having a driver's license with her.
Finney said the department's investigation is independent of the criminal case.
"We are investigating the employee issues. This is a case that could result in anything up to termination," he said. "We certainly regret the mistake she made, and obviously we're looking into the event on what type of discipline will be considered."
Part of what police administrators will consider is that Staples was in her assigned squad car. Depending on their responsibilities, detectives are allowed to take unmarked squad cars home but they are to use them for work purposes only, Finney said.
Finney said he didn't know any of the details of where Staples had been or what she was doing prior to her arrest.
Staples has been a detective since August 2004. Prior to becoming a police officer in September 1997, she was a civilian employee with the department for two years.
Champaign police officer pleads guilty to misdemeanor DUI
|
URBANA – A Champaign police officer who admitted driving drunk the wrong way on an interstate highway will be spared a conviction.Lisa Staples, 39, pleaded guilty Thursday before Champaign County Judge Richard Klaus to misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision. Should she successfully complete the period, she'll have no record of a conviction. She has been a Champaign police officer since 1997.
Staples will also wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet on her ankle that can tell if she consumes alcohol; perform 250 hours of public service; and pay a $750 fine and court costs.
Staples was arrested early Nov. 30 as she drove her unmarked departmental squad car west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 72 just west of Mahomet. Several people had called to report a driver going the wrong way on the highway about 2:30 a.m. At 2:47 a.m., she was stopped by a Piatt County sheriff's deputy.
Learning that the apparently intoxicated Staples was a Champaign police detective, the officers asked that state police handle the investigation.
Special prosecutor Tony Lee, the former Ford County state's attorney appointed to handle Staples' case because of her working relationship with the Champaign County state's attorney's office, negotiated the plea agreement with Staples' attorney, Ed Piraino of Champaign.
Laying out the facts for Klaus, Lee said state trooper Brian Ingram said Staples had a strong odor of alcohol and bloodshot eyes, appeared disheveled and stumbled as she got out of the car that had the police radio on. She told him she had consumed three drinks and was unsure of her location, Lee said.
She admitted she was intoxicated but refused to perform field sobriety tests or take a breath test at the Champaign County jail.
Piraino told Klaus that Staples had already gotten her substance abuse evaluation and was in treatment even though Thursday was her first appearance before a judge. She was scheduled to make an initial appearance Friday but due to a scheduling conflict, Piraino asked Klaus if he would hear her case late Thursday afternoon.
In addition to the other terms of her supervision, Staples will have to attend a victim impact panel where victims of drunken driving tell heart-wrenching personal experiences. Piraino told the judge he wanted Staples to do her community service in Champaign's two public high schools, telling teens about the consequences of drinking and driving.
Both Piraino and Lee said their goal was a resolution that might allow Staples to keep her job as a police officer, a decision that's up in the air.
"If she can't drive, she can't be a police officer," Piraino said.
Lee, a prosecutor for 20 years, said Staples made a "bad, terrible mistake" but he agreed to court supervision because no one was hurt. The DUI was her first ticket, he said.
"I treated this according to my experience and the way I evaluated offenders during my time in Ford County," he said.
A detective since August 2004, Staples remains on administrative leave from her job. She was suspended with pay shortly after her arrest.
Police Chief R.T. Finney said an internal departmental investigation is continuing.
"We are adhering to due process rights she has under the collective bargaining agreement," he said.
Before leaving the courtroom, Klaus told Staples he was giving her the same warning he has given every person he's ever sentenced to court supervision for a first DUI conviction: that no judge, by law, can give that same sentence for a second conviction.
"You need to take very seriously the terms of this order," he said.
Staples declined to comment on her case.
Plea deal in cop's DUI case raises questions
Why did a Champaign police officer charged with drunken driving get kid-gloves treatment in the court system?
Elizabeth Drewes remains in the Champaign County Jail, where she's being held on $5 million bond in connection with her involvement in a terrible car crash that killed a 24-year-old Ogden woman.
Drewes, who was allegedly intoxicated, struck the vehicle in which Brittany K. Babb was riding about 1 p.m. Dec. 19 on Interstate 74 between the Neil Street and Lincoln Avenue exits. Drewes was driving her Cadillac Escalade west in the eastbound lane when the crash occurred.
Funeral services for Miss Babb, who was engaged to be married, were held Tuesday. Needless to say, Babb's friends and family are heartbroken, and her home community is in shock.
Lisa Staples, a 39-year-old Champaign police officer, was much more fortunate than Drewes, just as the motorists who dodged the car Staples was driving were much more fortunate than Brittany Babb.
Staples, a detective and 11-year police veteran, was arrested Nov. 30 as she was driving her unmarked squad car west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 72 west of Mahomet. Police were alerted by motorists who reported a car headed the wrong way on the interstate. Staples also was intoxicated, telling police she didn't know where she was and refusing to take field sobriety and breath tests.
There is a great difference in the result of Drewes' and Staples' behavior. Drewes' conduct led directly to another person's death. But there is hardly any difference at all in their behavior.
That's why it was not just shocking, but inconsistent with common practice in Champaign County Circuit Court, to see Staples benefit from a sweetheart plea agreement in which the principal goal of both special prosecutor Tony Lee and defense lawyer Ed Piraino was to ensure that Staples keep her job as a police officer. Piraino stated during a court hearing: "If she can't drive, she can't be a police officer."
Under the terms of the agreement, Staples was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision. If she complies with the conditions of her plea agreement, her conviction will be expunged. Currently on administrative leave from the police department, Staples' disciplinary status remains uncertain. But she has cleared a major hurdle, and it's obvious Staples received far gentler treatment than DUI defendants in similar or even less serious circumstances.
Associate Judge Richard Klaus' decision to accept this plea agreement was a mistake. It would have been far better if he'd rejected it and told the lawyers to try to sell it to another judge.
The deal itself was negotiated by Lee and Piraino, and the aggravating factors stand out like bright, flashing lights.
The danger Staples posed is undeniable. Witness the Babb tragedy. Further, the facts indicate that Staples was not just barely over the line of legal intoxication. Staples was intoxicated to the point of not knowing what she was doing.
The only mitigating factor is that, prior to the night of her arrest, Staples had a clean driving record. As a general rule, however, that hasn't been good enough to persuade a judge to grant a sentence of court supervision in the more serious DUI cases. Just ask any veteran defense lawyer.
It will be no surprise when members of the defense bar start arguing that their DUI clients deserve the same generous treatment, just as it will be no surprise when they don't get it. The Staples plea agreement was a disturbing departure from the usual rules, one that should not be repeated. Indeed, it should not have happened in the first place.
