People v. Ptak

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s holding that the issue of whether the broken glass bottle is a dangerous weapon as defined in section 33A — 1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 33A — 1) is a question of law and that the trial court properly instructed the jury on this question. I further disagree with the majority’s statement that, in determining whether the defendant is “armed with a dangerous weapon” under section 33A — 1, it is proper to consider that the weapon had no legitimate use and how it was used.

Approaching the latter problem first, it is…