"My question involves criminal law for the state of: Illinois. I ACCIDENTALLY brought mace into my school. I visited Chicago to look at Colleges one weekend and put mace on my keys to defend myself if need be."
Interesting choice of colleges.
Gail
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"My question involves criminal law for the state of: Illinois. I ACCIDENTALLY brought mace into my school. I visited Chicago to look at Colleges one weekend and put mace on my keys to defend myself if need be."
Interesting choice of colleges.
Gail
You report that you were late for school. Due to the possibility of you missing homeroom, you may not have been counted as actually being an active student for the day. If you weren't given creddit for being in attendeance, then it is very well possible that you were charged with CTTL beacause you weren't supposed to be there. Saying that you forgot that you had mace on your keychain is like an attorney saying I went to the range and forgot that I left my gun in my bag when he comes to the County. You don't forget things like that. Even if it's an honest mistake, you don't forgrt that. Talk your counsel, you're going to need him/her.
I think that's a stretch, particularly given the language of the statute, 720 ILCS 5/21-5. While the officer may have indicated that as the arresting offense, I suspect that if charges were filed they're for a different offense. I browsed through the Illinois Statutes and didn't find one that obviously applies -- the school can, of course, have rules against the possession of mace (or similar sprays) on its property, but possession of "a non-lethal noxious liquid gas or substance designed solely for personal defense carried by a person 18 years of age or older" falls outside of the state's unlawful use of weapons statute, 720 ILCS 5/24-1.