People v. Claxton

Defendant was convicted, aft jury trial, of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (UUWF) and sentenced to 10 years. A conviction for UUW or AUUW which is unconstitutional under Illinois Supreme Court's decision in People v. Aguilar is void ab initio and cannot serve as elemental predicate felony for UUWF. Only facial unconstitutionality renders a statute void ab initio. Defendant's AUUW conviction for Class 4 felony form of 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(A) or (a)(2), (a)(3)(A) is void ab initio and thus cannot serve as an essential element of his UUWF conviction.(PALMER and GORDON, concurring.)