Criminal Law

Defendant appealed from a circuit court order denying his motion for release from pretrial detention because he was not brought to trial within 90 days. The State argued on appeal that it had an additional 90 days to bring a defendant to trial when the defendant is in custody on multiple cases and the first elected case was dismissed or resolved. The appellate court rejected this argument and reversed the order of the circuit court. (JORGENSEN and MULLEN, concurring)

Defendant was found guilty of being an armed habitual criminal and sentenced to 15 years in prison. On appeal, defendant argued that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when trial counsel failed to file a motion to suppress evidence, that his sentence was excessive, and that Illinois’ AHC and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon statutes are unconstitutional. The appellate court affirmed, finding no error and rejecting defendant’s constitutional challenges. (McBRIDE and HOWSE, concurring)

Defendant was arrested and charged with various weapons-related offenses after a gun was found in his possession as he attempted to enter a theme park in Illinois. Defendant moved to suppress evidence regarding the warrantless search of his belongings, the trial court granted the motion, and the State appealed. The appellate court reversed and remanded, finding defendant did not meet his burden to prove that the search was unlawful and that defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the bag once he consensually submitted it for screening; thus, the trial court erred when it granted the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence recovered from the bag. (HUTCHINSON, concurring and KENNEDY, dissenting)

Defendant appealed from a circuit court order terminating her probation unsatisfactorily based on her failure to pay a court-ordered probation fee. Defendant argued that the State failed to prove that her failure to pay was willful. The State argued that the appeal was moot or, in the alternative, that the evidence was sufficient to justify revocation. The appellate court dismissed the appeal, finding it was moot because defendant had completed her sentence and finding that none of the exceptions to the mootness doctrine applied. (BIRKETT and MULLEN, concurring)

Defendant appealed from the circuit court’s denial of his petition for relief from judgment under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure in which he argued that his conviction for unlawful use of a weapon in a public park was void because the statute is facially unconstitutional under the second amendment. The appellate court affirmed, explaining that categorizing public parks as sensitive places did not conflict with either recent court precedent or the historical facts. (MITCHELL and NAVARRO, concurring)

Defendant appealed from the trial court’s denial of his petition to seal certain court records related to a traffic stop where defendant was issued tickets for speeding, driving with a suspended license, and operating an uninsured vehicle. On appeal, defendant challenged the constitutionality of the Criminal Identification Act, arguing that because bond forfeitures in traffic cases are not eligible for sealing under the Act this violated procedural due process, substantive due process, and equal protection. The appellate court affirmed, finding that defendant’s constitutional challenges lacked merit. (NAVARRO and MITCHELL, concurring)