People v. Taylor

Defendant was convicted, after stipulated bench trial, of 2 counts of unlawful use of a weapon and 1 count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Defendant did not stipulate to sufficiency of evidence, and thus his stipulation was not tantamount to a guilty plea. Nature of defense does not matter so long as Defendant actually preserved a defense. Defendant did not admit his guilt, but asserted that the offense with which he was charged did not even legally exist, thus he made clear that purpose of stipulated bench trial was to preserve that defense for appeal. By invoking stipulated bench trial as a method of preserving that defense, Defendant did not effectively enter a guilty plea. (BURKE, concurring; JORGENSEN, specially concurring.)