| On February 5, 2006, Chicago police arrested 18-year-old Perry Hampton and charged him with aggravated unlawful use of a firearm.
On September 11, 2006, Hampton pled guilty to the charge in Cook County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to one year in prison. He was released after being credited for 218 days in custody prior to pleading guilty.
In September 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in People v. Aguilar that the portion of the statute under which Hampton had been convicted was unconstitutional. The statute said that a person committed the offense of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon when a person “carries on or about his person or in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his abode or fixed place of business any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm and the firearm is uncased, loaded and immediately accessible.”
The court held that portion of the statute violated the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
In June 2019, attorney Joel Flaxman filed a petition to vacate Hampton’s conviction based on the appeals court ruling. On June 21, 2019, the conviction was vacated and the charge was dismissed.
On October 11, 2019, Cook County Circuit Court Criminal Division Presiding Judge Leroy Martin Jr. granted Hampton’s request for a certificate of innocence. Hampton subsequently filed a claim with the Illinois Court of Claims seeking compensation.
On July 13, 2020, the court of claims awarded Hampton $40,000 in compensation.
– Maurice Possley
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