Legal Question in Criminal Law in Illinois

720 ILCS 5/24-1

In 1997, my husband was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon. The charge and conviction stem from him walking 2 city blocks with a weapon. He did not use the weapon, commit a crime with the weapon nor did he make any threats towards anyone.

At the time, this was a Class 4 felony. Now, the state statute has been amended, it is now a Class A misdemeanor.

This has been a problem for him in seeking better empolyment.

Could someone please tell me where I might find the proper legal petition to file to have this dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor?

At this time, we are unale to hire an attorney. I am willing and able to file this petition myself. I just need to know what information I need to put into this petition. I have asked several attorneys for this, they all refuse. They insist that I hire them.

I do have a copy of the revised state statute.


Asked on 3/13/00, 12:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Zedrick Braden III

Re: 720 ILCS 5/24-1

In this situation, your husband might

choose to represent himself, and if

so, he could go to the court where

he was sentenced and file a motion

to vacate the felony charge based

upon the fact that the statute

has been declared unconstitutional

and the charge is now a misdemeanor.

I would also suggest contacting the

Public Defender's Office in your area.

They might decide to represent your

husband in this situation.

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Answered on 3/24/00, 4:11 am


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