In this case, the defendant was living in Belvidere Illinois and properly registered. He had to go to the hospital, and informed local law enforcement, who filled out a form which had on the hospital address as well as the Belvidere address as a secondary address.
The defendant returned home, and once the Belvidere police found out about his short stay in the hospital, the police arrested him for failure to re-register his Belvidere address.
The Illinois Supreme Court quoted extensively from the trial transcript to show the confusion of the judge and the prosecutor, as well as the frustration of defense counsel. This footnote is apt:
“We believe the words of the parties and the trial court make these points more poignantly than our
mere summation of the discussion ever could. It seems to us an exceedingly rare instance that the
parties and the court, after the proofs have been concluded, are still arguing, cumulatively, over what
statutory section applied, the parameters of the charge, what had to be proven, and what had been
proven.”
The Illinois Supreme Court reversed his conviction, finding that he complied with the statute for which he was charged.
This case is a must read for those who have a client who leaves temporarily for e.g. a hospital stay and return home.
The case is People v. Brian Pearse.
http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2017/121072.pdf