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This ruling, if upheld, may have far reaching consequences.
Appeals court tosses defaced gun law
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun15.html
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter
When police arrested Juan Quinones in 2002, the handgun they accused him of carrying had its serial number scratched out.
State law said merely possessing such a gun was enough evidence to also charge Quinones with being the person who scratched it out.
But a recent ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois said that law is unconstitutional -- which could open the door to reversals for others convicted of the crime.
Though the state law was amended last year, the court said those convicted under the old language were convicted against the presumption of innocence granted to anyone arrested for a crime.
State plans to appeal
"The state is constitutionally required to prove every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt," the court said in its ruling.
Though state's attorney spokesman John Gorman said there are plans to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, assistant appellate defender Jessica Hunter said the state "has the burden to prove all the elements in a case.''
Prosecutors sometimes struggled with proving who actually defaced the gun, so it was easier for them to charge whomever was in possession of the weapon, according to Hunter.
Has been deported
The state law said "possession of any firearm upon which any such mark shall have been changed, altered, removed or obliterated shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has changed, altered, removed or obliterated the same."
Hunter said after a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling, all cases involving "presumptions" are being given a second look, though Quinones' is the first case to be overturned as a result of that.
Quinones, a Mexican national who has since been deported, was involved in a kidnapping plot that unraveled as money demands were made on a family in Cicero and Riverside, and as police busted the ring, they found the gun in Quinones' apartment.
Appeals court tosses defaced gun law
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun15.html
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter
When police arrested Juan Quinones in 2002, the handgun they accused him of carrying had its serial number scratched out.
State law said merely possessing such a gun was enough evidence to also charge Quinones with being the person who scratched it out.
But a recent ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois said that law is unconstitutional -- which could open the door to reversals for others convicted of the crime.
Though the state law was amended last year, the court said those convicted under the old language were convicted against the presumption of innocence granted to anyone arrested for a crime.
State plans to appeal
"The state is constitutionally required to prove every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt," the court said in its ruling.
Though state's attorney spokesman John Gorman said there are plans to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, assistant appellate defender Jessica Hunter said the state "has the burden to prove all the elements in a case.''
Prosecutors sometimes struggled with proving who actually defaced the gun, so it was easier for them to charge whomever was in possession of the weapon, according to Hunter.
Has been deported
The state law said "possession of any firearm upon which any such mark shall have been changed, altered, removed or obliterated shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has changed, altered, removed or obliterated the same."
Hunter said after a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling, all cases involving "presumptions" are being given a second look, though Quinones' is the first case to be overturned as a result of that.
Quinones, a Mexican national who has since been deported, was involved in a kidnapping plot that unraveled as money demands were made on a family in Cicero and Riverside, and as police busted the ring, they found the gun in Quinones' apartment.
