Opinion ID: 3135205
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Post-Davis

Text: With this new analysis in place, the court rejected proportionate penalties challenges when the offenses the defendant asked the court to compare had different statutory purposes. Thus, this court rejected a comparison between aggravated kidnapping and armed violence predicated on aggravated kidnapping, between aggravated criminal sexual abuse and armed violence predicated on aggravated criminal sexual abuse ( People v. Koppa , 184 Ill. 2d 159, 172-73 (1998)); between armed violence predicated on possession of a controlled substance and aggravated battery with a firearm, between armed violence predicated on possession of a controlled substance and aggravated criminal sexual assault ( People v. Lombardi , 184 Ill. 2d 462, 478-79 (1998)); and between falsely reporting a vehicle theft and disorderly conduct ( People v. Fuller , 187 Ill. 2d 1, 12-15 (1999)). However, this court did conclude that armed violence with a Category I weapon predicated on residential burglary shared a statutory purpose with home invasion. See Lombardi , 184 Ill. 2d at 483-84. After so concluding, the Lombardi court moved on to step two of the cross-comparison analysis and determined that home invasion was the more serious offense, but that armed violence with a Category I weapon predicated on residential burglary was punished more severely. Accordingly, this court determined that the circuit court was correct in dismissing the armed violence predicated on residential burglary charge. Lombardi , 184 Ill. 2d at 485. These post- Davis cases highlight the difficulty that a court faces in defining statutory purpose. For instance, in Koppa , this court stated that armed violence predicated on aggravated kidnapping did not have a related statutory purpose with aggravated kidnapping and that armed violence predicated on aggravated criminal sexual assault had a different statutory purpose than aggravated criminal sexual assault. Koppa , 184 Ill. 2d at 172-73. Koppa made this distinction on the basis that armed violence always involves a weapon, while aggravated criminal sexual abuse and aggravated kidnapping do not necessarily involve a weapon. Contrast this with the analysis used two months later in Lombardi . Lombardi found that armed violence predicated on residential burglary with a Category I weapon had a related statutory purpose with home invasion. Lombardi used a broader focus than Koppa and stated that armed violence predicated on residential burglary targets “the risk that an unauthorized entry into a residence by an armed intruder may result in violence” ( Lombardi , 184 Ill. 2d at 484), while the purpose of home invasion is “to protect the safety of persons in their homes” ( Lombardi , 184 Ill. 2d at 484). Had Lombardi used the Koppa analysis, however, it would have reached the opposite result. Armed violence always involves the use of a weapon, while home invasion does not in all circumstances involve a weapon. The Lombardi court could have used this distinction to find that the offenses had different statutory purposes. Lombardi and Koppa demonstrate the difficulty in defining something like “statutory purpose.” Each used a different approach, and each approach is reasonable. The appellate court would later note the difficulty in determining statutory purpose, explaining that, if courts use a broad definition, such as “prevention of crime,” then everything qualifies for cross-comparison analysis. On the other hand, a court can define statutory purpose very narrowly, picking out one or two different elements, and then nothing would qualify for cross-comparison analysis. See People v Powell , 355 Ill. App. 3d 124, 133-34 (2004).