Peoria Heights Mayor Matt Wigginton has been found not guilty of misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence.
A Peoria County Court jury returned its verdict Monday in the one-day trial before Associate Judge Nathan Bach. Wigginton did not take the stand in his own defense, under the advice of defense attorney Kevin Sullivan.
“I don’t think the fact that Matt is the mayor of Peoria Heights played into [the verdict] at all, despite what some of the common comments are at this point,” Sullivan told WCBU on Tuesday. “We argued that he never drove the vehicle in any [impaired] condition.”
Sullivan did not call any witnesses, while the prosecution called several people to the stand. Sullivan said the jury deliberated for about 30 minutes. Wigginton declined to comment when contacted Tuesday morning, hoping to move forward from the incident.
The 42-year-old mayor was arrested shortly after 2:30 a.m. on April 17 after police found him slumped over the wheel of his vehicle in a Downtown Peoria parking deck.
Police body camera footage showed the vehicle was not running. Wigginton’s speech was slurred as he spoke with officers. The key fob for the vehicle was in his suit jacket pocket.
“Despite the fact that Matt did not look particularly well on the video, I still challenged the way that [the police] attempted to measure his intoxication,” said Sullivan. “I challenged all of the field testing that went on, and I defended his decision not to submit to a blood or urine test.”
Sullivan previously told WCBU that Wigginton attended a five-hour civic event at the Pere Marquette Hotel and decided to take a nap when he got to his car.
Sullivan argued there was no evidence that Wigginton had driven or was planning to drive.
“He never started the vehicle. He did not intend to do that, and he realized he should not have been driving for one or more reasons,” said Sullivan. “Based upon that, that overrode his ability to want to move the vehicle because he didn’t have the desire.
“The jury obviously believed that. The jury believed he did the right thing under the circumstances. He was situated in a car, secure, sheltered in a properly parked car in the third floor of a parking deck that was privately owned.”
Sullivan said the risk of being convicted of DUI for resting behind the wheel of a vehicle that isn’t running is problematic.
“Unless you can find a place in which to shelter, it encourages people to take a risk and drive home in a compromised condition, endangering themselves, and more importantly, others as well as property in between the place of origin and the destination,” he said. “We don’t want that. That’s an impractical, ridiculous application of the law, and that can’t be what was intended.”
