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FIRST DIVISION
June 8, 2009

No. 1-08-0869

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) of Cook County.
)

v. )
)
AURELIA GONZALEZ, ) Honorable
) James B. Linn,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE WOLFSON delivered the opinion of the court:
Throughout the trial, defendant insisted she could not be
found guilty of aggravated kidnapping. She claimed there was
insufficient evidence she secretly confined the infant she
carried away from the Stroger Hospital Fantus Clinic. Neither
the jury nor the trial court agreed.
The jury found defendant Aurelia Gonzalez guilty but
mentally ill of aggravated kidnapping and unlawful restraint.
Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of six years
and three years. On appeal, defendant contends the State failed
to prove beyond a reasonable doubt she committed the offense of
aggravated kidnapping. Defendant also contends she suffered
prejudice when the prosecutor referred to the substance of her
suppressed statement during rebuttal argument. We reverse the

aggravated kidnapping conviction and affirm the conviction and
sentence for unlawful restraint.

FACTS

State witnesses testified that on March 2, 2006, Mirabel and
Joel Oceguera were in the waiting room at the Stroger Hospital
Fantus Clinic (Fantus Clinic) with their three-week-old baby.
Defendant sat next to them. Mirabel recognized defendant from
the neighborhood. Defendant appeared pregnant.

Later, Mirabel excused herself from the waiting room to take
a phone call, leaving the baby with Joel. While she was away,
Joel was called to the reception desk to complete paperwork.
When the Ocegueras

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Illinois Law