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NO. 4-98-0250

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

JUSTICE COOK delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Jeremy D. Jennings, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 1996)). The trial court granted defendant's motion in limine to bar the results of blood-alcohol tests. The State appeals. We reverse and remand.

On June 14, 1997, defendant was involved in a one-vehicle accident and transported to the hospital. At the hospital, police officer Dave Sielaff directed a nurse to draw defendant's blood for analysis of blood-alcohol content (BAC). Officer Sielaff took custody of the two sealed tubes of blood, transported them to the Logan County Safety Complex, and placed them in the evidence locker. On July 2, 1997, 18 days after the blood withdrawal, Officer Chris Carmichael delivered the blood samples to the Springfield Forensic Science Laboratory (Laboratory). On July 10, 1997, Dareea Paiva, a forensic scientist employed at the laboratory, analyzed one of the tubes of blood. Her analysis revealed a blood ethanol content of 0.196.

Defendant was charged with DUI with a BAC of .10 or more. In response, defendant filed a motion in limine to bar the State from introducing the blood test results. Defendant argued the 18-day time lapse from the time his blood was drawn to the time it was delivered to the Laboratory, in addition to the eight-day time lapse from the time the blood was delivered to the time it was analyzed, violated the Illinois Administrative Code (Code), as section 510.110(a)(4)(D) of Title 77 of the Code states that "blood samples shall be delivered directly to a laboratory certified by the Department." (Emphasis added.) 77 Ill. Adm. Code