People v. Coleman

Defendant, Jesse Coleman, was convicted, after bench trial, of violating armed habitual criminal statute. The name on one of the certified copies of prior felony conviction was "Jessie Coleman", and Defendant contended that State was required to offer additional evidence to establish that "Jessie" Coleman" was the Defendant. The trier of fact could have found that Defendant was the same person named in the certified copy. Defendant never asserted that he did not commit the prior crime and was not the Defendant in that case; the variance between "Jesse" and "Jessie" is not sufficient to defeat the initial presumption of identity, and Defendant presented no evidence to rebut it. The armed habitual criminal statute is a constitutionally permissible restriction of second amendment right to bear arms, and does not violate ex post facto clause, because it punishes for new and separate crime committed while having already been convicted of two prior felonies. (GARCIA and CAHILL, concurring.)