DeKalb Liquor Commission member Luke Coyne, an NIU student, today continues his fight against a DUI charge from last summer.

Coyne will appear for a 1:30 p.m. hearing before Circuit Court Judge Douglas Engel at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, where he will have a chance to either plea-bargain or proceed to jury selection for a criminal trial at 10 a.m. Monday morning.

Coyne said no plea bargain is in the works.

“As far as I know, there is no motion for a plea bargaining,” Coyne said. “As for everything else, I still maintain my innocence.”

Coyne was arrested by University Police at 3:27 a.m. June 25 after being pulled over as he was heading south on Annie Glidden Road near the Lincoln

Highway intersection. Police said he had no front license plate.

An on-site breathalizer test revealed Coyne’s blood-alcohol level to be .111. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.

Since his arrest, Coyne has appeared before Circuit Clerk Judge James Donnelly a total of five times for status hearings, with action postponed to a further date each time.

Coyne’s attorney, Thomas Gallagher of Gallagher and Brady, filed a motion to quash on July 12, citing a lack of probable cause for Coyne being pulled over and police officers’ failure to properly arrest him. Coyne said that motion was dropped over winter break, although he did not reveal why.

Coyne caused considerable controversy last year when he introduced a proposal to the liquor commission to allow 19-year-olds into Class A bars, which

restrict admittance to those over 21. His proposal was narrowly defeated by the city council 4-3.

He was an early candidate for the open 6th Ward aldermanic seat, but his petitions were thrown out on a technicality last week.