Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of mob action and sentenced to 2 1/2 years. State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant and his girlfriend acted together to disturb the public peace through the use of force or violence. The simultaneous arrival of Defendant and his girlfriend, and the "almost instantaneous": acts of the girlfriend attempting to enter the home, and Defendant striking another man (who is the father of 2 children of Defendant's girlfriend), and the verbal altercation with that man on one side and Defendant and his girlfriend on the other, without more, does not satisfy the "acting together" element of mob action. Evidence presented at trial does not support inference that girlfriends' attempted entry into home was forceful and without permission of man or his girlfriend. (HUITCHINSON and BIRKETT, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Evidence