People v. Ratliff

Defendant-appellant Kenneth Eugene Ratliff was tried before a jury, convicted of the crime of armed robbery, and sentenced 4 to 12 years. On appeal he contends that the judgment should be reduced from armed robbery to robbery since the weapon used was a .22-calibre pistol designed to fire blank cartridges, and therefore not a dangerous weapon.

Section 18 — -2(a) of the Criminal Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 18 — 2(a)) provides that a person who commits a robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of armed robbery. During the course of the trial the State stipulated that…