Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County Honorable Thomas Fitzgerald, Judge Presiding. Following a bench trial, defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and defendant was involuntarily committed to the Illinois Department of Mental Health. The State objected to the petition.
Defendant now appeals.
Accordingly, we turn to the statute authorizing expungement to determine whether such a remedy is available to defendant. The primary goal of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature. When the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, courts may not read exceptions, limitations or conditions into the statute that the legislature did not express. Further, criminal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the accused. In order to be eligible for expungement of arrest records, a defendant must either be acquitted or released without a conviction.