People v. Watts

Defendant, Dan Watts, was convicted of home repair fraud under the Home Repair Fraud Act (the Act) (815 ILCS 515/1 et seg. (West 1994)) in a bench trial in the circuit court of Lake County. The appellate court reversed the conviction, concluding that the Act contains an unconstitutional mandatory presumption which impermissibly relieves the State of its burden of proving that defendant did not intend to perform the promised home repairs. 281 Ill. App. 3d 434. The State filed a petition for leave to appeal as a matter of right, under Supreme Court Rule 317 (134 Ill. 2d R. 317). We granted that…