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Tim Capps and his associate, Jason Vincent, pose outside the Capps Law Firm office on Grand Avenue next to Pinch Penny Pub. The firm handles many of Carbondale's DUI cases, and the number one advice it gives to anyone involved in a DUI is to not talk to the police.
Tim Capps, one of Southern Illinois' leading defense lawyers, keeps three monkey statues on his desk as a subliminal warning to his clients who see him in his Grand Avenue office next to Pinch Penny Pub.
The statues, a gift given to him a few years ago, represent hear no evil, see no evil and the most important monkey of the criminal defense business <breve> speak no evil.
"I use this as a subliminal message," Capps said in a half-joking manner as he lifted up the third monkey. "Do not talk to the police."
That last sentence is pretty much the only advice Capps said he could give to someone who is about to be charged with a DUI. Other advice would be case specific, but no matter the case, he said it is wise to dummy up when the police want information.
"About the only blanket advice I give anyone is don't confess to the police. Don't talk to the police. You don't have to. You're not going to help yourself out," he said.
"Wait 'till you get to a lawyer and then talk it over with a lawyer before you decide if you're going to talk to the police."
Capps, a 1989 graduate of the SIU Law School, founded the Capps Law Firm after a stint as Assistant Illinois Attorney General. He has tried cases in seven different countries, earned the New York City Bar Association's military trial advocacy award in addition to a few other military legal awards and is one of the few lawyers certified by the Illinois Supreme Court to be lead counsel in death penalty cases.
But even Capps, with his legal expertise, cannot get someone off the hook for a DUI. The best he can do is minimize the harm. Even if you hire Capps or a similar lawyer, someone convicted of a DUI can expect to pay around $2,000 in total expenses.
Common fees associated with even a first offense DUI are:
* an average fine of $500, though a DUI is a Class A misdemeanor and has a maximum penalty of a $2,500 fine and a year in prison,
* $120 for alcohol evaluation,
* an average of $150 for alcohol rehab,
* a $100 statutory assessment,
* a $25 probation fee per month of probation,
* $15 to attend a victim impact panel,
* and, if you deem it necessary, a legal fee of around $750, which is what Capps charges.
Capps, not surprisingly, suggests hiring a lawyer to anyone involved in a DUI because he said the cost of not hiring a lawyer is even higher. The public defender may be free, he said, but it will cost you in the end.
The public defender only pursues criminal defense and his job, as Capps said, is just "to make sure you don't get completely railroaded by the state."
A public defender will also not fight for things such as a Judicial Driving Permit, which allows a first-time offender to drive for employment, school or medical reasons on a suspended license.
Jackson County, which registered 755 DUIs last year, is particularly tough on the offense, and the prosecutor is unlikely to drop a DUI to reckless driving <breve> a common misconception <breve> making it impossible for any lawyer to turn a DUI into a minor offense.
And, according to Capps' associate Jason Vincent, who handles many of Capps' DUI cases, DUI laws will only become tougher.
"What you have five years from now is not going to be any less," Vincent said. "It's going toward more periods and more fines. Nothing gets taken off the books. Things just get added to it."
Even for lawyers, the best defense from a DUI is to not commit one to begin with. But most of those offenses are committed in Carbondale, which gives Capps a convenient location.
"We're probably ground zero for DUIs simply because of the beverages that are sold at the bars right here," Capps said, motioning toward the bars next to his office.
It is no secret that policemen linger outside the bars at closing time, and that's exactly the time many people are pulled over for drunk driving. Carbondale police officer Dan Reed said although the department is not doing it at this time of year, it is not abnormal for police officers to be assigned to DUI-specific patrols.
And those officers usually nab people who cook up Capps' recipe for disaster: going to a bar where cops are parked outside, leaving at closing time and driving when they are not supposed to be driving.
"The police are kind of like lazy lions," Capps said. "They know where the watering hole is, and they know where they can lie in wait, and they do."
But if someone does find himself in the lion's jaws, Capps' advice remains simple. It is the advice of the third monkey on his desk.
"You don't have to tell them anything," he said. "Just politely allow yourself to be arrested."
Go to part II: 
