People v. Brown

Defendant was charged with possessing a firearm without a FOID card. Defendant's estranged husband called sheriff's department and reported that Defendant was shooting a gun inside her home.  Officers went to her home to investigate and found a rifle in Defendant's bedroom, but found no evidence that rifle or any other gun had been fired in the home. Circuit court dismissed the charge, finding that, as applied to this case, section 2(a)(1) of the FOID Card Act was unconstitutional under the 2nd amendment, but also provided an alternative, nonconstitutional ground for dismissal, holding that the Act was not intended to apply in the home. Because of this alternative, nonconstitutional ground, direct appeal cannot lie in Illinois Supreme Court. Circuit court unnecessarily reached Defendant's constitutional challenge. Thus, court's constitutional holding is vacated, and cause remanded for circuit court to enter a modified judgment order that excludes the finding.(KILBRIDE, GARMAN, and NEVILLE, concurring; KARMEIER and THEIS, dissenting.)