The Fourth District Appellate Court is reversing a Plano woman's 2020 conviction after finding a Woodford County judge wrongly denied her request to present evidence that she was unaware her Firearm Owner's ID card was revoked.
Jaquay Fields, 44, was sentenced in 2021 to two years in prison and one year mandatory supervised release on a felony charge on unlawful possession of a firearm without a FOID card.
The appellate court originally affirmed the conviction and sentence, but reconsidered after the Illinois Supreme Court sent back the case with directions for the appellate court judges to reconsider after a new precedent was set by another case.
In its revised decision, the appellate court cited a 2023 Illinois Supreme Court decision, wherein a case was remanded for a new trial because the state didn't prove the defendant knew the serial number on his gun was defaced. That decision found because absolute liability wasn't written into the applicable law, the defendant's intent, recklessness, or knowledge needs to be weighed.
The Fourth District Appellate Court ultimately found the state had to not only prove Fields knew she had a gun, but also that she knew her FOID card was revoked.
Fields claimed she had evidence to present showing she didn't know about the revocation, but a Woodford County judge agreed with prosecutors that her knowing about her gun permit's status wasn't relevant. The appellate justices said no case law was cited by the court or prosecution in making the determination about the relevancy of Fields' lack of knowledge.
Fields was headed home from St. Louis with Demetric Collum on July 6, 2019 on Interstate 39 when she was pulled over by Woodford County Sheriff's Deputy Nathan Campbell. He testified there was excessive exhaust noise coming from Fields' vehicle, and he also noted her "jubilant singing" with the window halfway down.
He pulled over the vehicle for the exhaust noise after observing it for a time. He searched the vehicle after smelling cannabis. He found a small blunt, and Fields' 9mm pistol. Fields had a FOID card and concealed carry card, but Campbell found those were revoked. She said she would not have carried the gun had she known.
The deputy also noted Fields had an enforceable restraining order against Collum, though Fields claimed it was never served.
Campbell seized the gun but allowed Fields and Collum to leave. She was charged after a report was sent to the Woodford County State's Attorney's Office for review.
Fields argued the stop was pretextual because video evidence shows her vehicle wasn't making excessive exhaust noise, but the appellate court said the video doesn't refute Campbell's statement the noise happened when her vehicle was going 70 miles per hour on the interstate and said there's no reason to doubt the trial court's apparent belief in the deputy's credibility on the issue. Fields also alleged racism because she and Collum are Black. The trial court suppressed that latter allegation for lack of evidence.
