People v. Lewis

(Court opinion corrected 7/9/14.) Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and sentenced to 5 years as a Class 2 offender. No error in jury instructions, as jury was informed of stipulation to Defendant's prior felony conviction, apprised of meaning and significance of stipulations, elements of offense, and how to consider Defendant's prior felony conviction in light of his testifying on his own behalf, and gave a limiting instruction directly after stipulation was submitted. Defendant's Class 2 sentence was based on prior conviction for aggravated robbery, which was an element of the charged offense, and required by statutory provisions of Section 24-1.1(e). Thus, Section 111-3(c) notice provision, requiring State to notify a defendant of intent to seek Class 2 sentence, does not apply. (ROCHFORD and HALL, concurring.)