In this case, the police made an arrest of the defendant pursuant to the execution of a search warrant. The defendant did not have a gun in his possession when the police caught him. The defendant argued that this physical separation from the gun meant that he could not be convicted of armed violence.
The appellate court rejected this contention, noting that possessing a gun during a drug transaction presents a potentially violent situation that the armed violence statute is specifically designed to address. Therefore, the possession of the gun while possessing drugs with the intent to deliver establishes the defendant’s guilt, regardless of how quickly he threw away the gun as he fled from the police.
The appellate court, after having affirmed the armed violence conviction, vacated one of his possession with intent to deliver convictions under the one act one crime rule. They also modified the defendant’s fines and fees.
The case is People v. Jarrod Curry, 1-15-2616.
http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2018/1stDistrict/1152616.pdf