People v. Camp

Defendant, William Camp, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501(a)(2) (West 2002)). After discovery began, defendant moved to dismiss the charge, arguing that he could not receive a fair trial because the State had lost a videotape of his field sobriety tests. The trial court dismissed the charge with leave to reinstate should the tape be recovered. The State appeals (see 188 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)(1)), contending that the dismissal was an excessive sanction for the inadvertent loss of the tape. We agree. Therefore, we reverse the judgment and remand the…