People v. Hagberg

Following a bench trial, defendant, Patrick Hagberg, was convicted of the unlawful possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 1998)) and of a traffic violation. For the unlawful possession count, the circuit court of McHenry County sentenced him to 24 months’ probation. Defendant appealed only his unlawful possession conviction. The appellate court reversed defendant’s conviction and vacated his sentence, holding that (1) a field test cannot be sufficient to sustain a finding that a substance is a controlled substance and (2) the State failed to prove the field test’s…