People v. Smith

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, on 1 count of being an armed habitual criminal (AHC) and on 3 counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (UUWF). Defendant thus cannot make a showing that he was "innocent" of the offenses charged in the indictment. A finding at the criminal trial that Defendant was guilty of 1 or more charges precludes the award of a certificate of innocence. Defendant was innocent of AHC as that offense was charged, as 1 of the 2 predicate offenses on which the charge rested was an AUUW (aggravated unlawful use of a weapon) charge later deemed by the Illinois Supreme Court to be "facially unconstitutional". The finding that Defendant was guilty on the UUWF charge did not rest on a predicate offense that was found unconstitutional. The only reason the UUWF conviction was vacated by appellate court was that, at the time the first came before appellate court, Defendant was also convicted of AHC based on the same underlying action of gun possession, and a defendant can only be punished once for a single act. (HARRIS, concurring; ODEN JOHNSON, dissenting.)