In this Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon prosecution, the First District Appellate Court affirmed the denial of a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence.
The trial court originally found that there was enough evidence to justify a Terry stop of the defendant. The appellate court affirmed, rejecting the defense argument that the officer’s observation that the defendant was armed with a firearm was not necessarily a crime. The court relied on an officer safety alert that there was going to be a gang conflict in the area. That coupled with the officer’s observations justified the stop.
The court also found that there was probable cause to arrest in part because the defendant did not volunteer that he had a conceal carry card.
There is a vociferous dissent that is worth reading.
The case is People v. Spain, 2019 IL App (1st) 163184.