Matthew R. Leisten, Ogle County State’s Attorney’s Office, Oregon
815-732-1170 | E-mail Matthew R. Leisten
Third District Appellate Court Overturns Convictions Due to Improper Venue
In People v. Henry, 2025 IL App (3d) 230137, the Third District Appellate Court vacated a defendant’s convictions for vehicular hijacking, attempted vehicular hijacking, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon after a trial in Will County because those offenses occurred in Cook County.
In Henry, the defendant was indicted in Will County for the above offenses in addition to aggravated fleeing to elude and striking a police animal. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶3. At the trial, two witnesses testified about their vehicles being robbed or hijacked from them by the defendant at gunpoint in Chicago. One victim’s cell phone was also stolen from the vehicle. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶¶8 – 10.
A state trooper located the Volkswagen on the Dan Ryan Expressway and pursued it along I-294, I-55, and I-80. The pursuit entered the Village of Shorewood in Will County, where the defendant crashed into a grassy area and fled on foot. A K-9 apprehended the defendant and was punched by the defendant. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶¶11 – 12.
Police did not recover the firearm, and no officers saw the defendant throw anything out of his car during the pursuit. The defendant was found guilty of all charges after trial. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to reconsider dismissing the indictment for improper venue. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶¶13 – 14.
On appeal, the appellate court stated that defendants have a right under Article I, §8, of the Illinois Constitution to be tried in the county where the offense was committed. However, that section does not require a single and exclusive county where venue is appropriate. The venue statute of 720 ILCS 5/1-6(a) states that venue is appropriate in any “county where the offense was committed except as otherwise provided by law.” 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶19.
In a motion to dismiss for improper venue, the defendant must make a prima facie case that venue is improper. If a prima facie case is made, then the state must prove by a preponderance of evidence that the county it has selected is the proper place of trial. Courts can look to “where the acts of the offenses occurred.” 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶20.
The appellate court noted that the first hijacking victim’s incident occurred entirely in Cook County, which the state conceded. The appellate court rejected the state’s contention that theft is an element of robbery and therefore any county could be the venue as long as an element of the offense occurred in that county under People v. Eggerman, 292 Ill.App.3d 644, 685 N.E.2d 948, 952 – 953, 226 Ill.Dec. 493 (1st Dist. 1997). The appellate court disagreed with Eggerman’s dicta that stated that theft was a lesser-included offense of robbery. The appellate court held that theft is not a lesser-included offense of robbery and vacated the convictions for robbery and vehicular hijacking because none of the elements of those offenses occurred in Will County. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶¶31, 53.
The appellate court also rejected the state’s argument that the defendant’s reckless driving in Will County established his continued use of force for the robbery. The appellate court stated that the defendant’s use of force in his robbery and hijacking concluded once he fled those scenes in Cook County. The appellate court emphasized that “subsequent offenses, even related offenses, do not grant the State the right to bring charges in the county to which a defendant flees and commits new crimes unless venue is independently appropriate in that county.” 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶35.
Finally, the appellate court said that the state did not present any evidence that the defendant possessed the firearm in Will County and vacated the unlawful use of weapons by a felon charge. 2025 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶38. The convictions for aggravated fleeing and striking a police animal were affirmed. 2024 IL App (3d) 230137 at ¶53.
For more information about criminal law, see CRIMINAL RECORDS: EXPUNGEMENT AND OTHER RELIEF (IICLE®, 2024). Online Library subscribers can view it for free by clicking here. If you don’t currently subscribe to the Online Library, visit www.iicle.com/subscriptions.