People v. Stanley

PRESIDING JUSTICE TOOMIN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In this case, we consider an apparent matter of first impression in Illinois, whether the proof of the mens rea for the possession of defaced weapons necessarily extends to the character of the weapon. Defendant, Kenneth Stanley, was convicted after a bench trial of unlawful use of a weapon, defacing identification marks on a firearm, and aggravated unlawful use of a firearm and sentenced to one year of probation. On appeal he contends: (1) the evidence was insufficient to prove knowledge of the defacement; (2) the evidence was…