Cook County tax commissioner Samantha Steele not guilty in DUI trial

Chicago Tribune via Yahoo ^ | 5/05/26 | A.D. Quig

[Libloather]

A judge declared Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele not guilty of driving under the influence late Tuesday morning.

While Cook County prosecutors established a “suspicion” of impairment, Judge Donald Suriano said they failed to definitively prove Steele was under the influence of alcohol when she crashed a friend’s car into two parked vehicles along Ashland Avenue in November 2024.

Steele refused a field sobriety test and a blood draw that night, and did not show “obvious signs of impairment,” Suriano said, noting the bottle of wine in her front passenger seat was corked and sealed within a bag. “The burden has not been met,” he concluded, declaring her not guilty.

Prosecutors had argued she exhibited slurred speech, could not keep her head up, swayed while standing and smelled of alcohol. She was also “extraordinarily disrespectful” to the officers that responded to the crash, a sign of impaired judgment.

But her defense attorney, John Fotopoulos, said the state’s seven witnesses could not keep their stories straight, and disagreed about the scent of alcohol.

While “not pretty,” her refusal to be tested was well within her constitutional rights, and Steele complied with other orders to present her license and exit the car, Fotopoulos said. Her emergency room doctor also reported Steele was alert, oriented and able to walk without a problem.

Steele did not testify. After the verdict, she said in a statement that she was “pleased that justice prevailed today and the court defended the constitution. I look forward to finishing the rest of my term in Cook county rooted in transparency, efficiency, and fairness.”

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Local News; Outdoors; Travel
KEYWORDS: chicago; dui; guilty; steele; trial

[dfwgator]

She will eventually kill someone with her car. Probably herself too after she walks free from other crashes a couple more times.

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And then she’ll run for President and win.

[californian by choice]

No one who drives under the influence of alcohol or another substance is innocent.

[subterfuge]

“And then she’ll run for President and win.”

Well she has the lying down so she’s got that going for her.

[Secret Agent Man]

Liberal privilege. Female privilege. Politician privilege.

I bet the judge got a nice perk too.

[Secret Agent Man]

Its more than two tiers.

[Secret Agent Man]

We live in the age of legal liability. That’s why all the “allegedly” references.

[kawhill]

Looks like quite a lady.

[Mark]

The insurance companies involved won’t be too kind.

[Buffalo Bob]

I am confuse and maybe one of you can help. "Steele refused a field sobriety test and a blood draw that night...
"her refusal to be tested was well within her constitutional rights"

I thought no one had the right to refuse a blood draw or breathalyzer test. Are the Illinois laws different somehow?

[miniTAX]

“We live in the age of legal liability. “

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Legal liability has nothing to do with the misuse and abuse of the qualifier “allegedly” for reporting indisputable facts filmed by multiple cameras. Because if it does, then we should also be told things like “the woman had allegedly crashed into allegedly 2 cars”. And while we are at this, people have been sued into oblivion for misgendering, so it should be “the alleged women had allegedly...”

[Secret Agent Man]

I agree. Certain lawyers don’t.

[rxh4n1]

I saw that video too. She was obviously impaired.