People v. Donohoo

Defendant, Richard Donohoo, was charged in the Circuit Court of Madison County with operating a motor vehicle at a speed of 70 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour speed zone as determined by a device known as a speed gun. The trial court found the defendant guilty and set his fine at $15 plus court costs.

At trial, the defendant maintained that the State had the burden of demonstrating that a speed gun was in fact a radar device and that it was an accurate means of recording speeds of moving objects. The State had this burden, the defendant argued, because no Illinois court had yet judicially…