Court Opinion

ID: 9739449
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:15:04.945257+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:12.256599
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE HUTCHINSON, dissenting: My dissent in this case reaches only the Apprendi sentencing issue. As author of People v. Chanthaloth, 318 Ill. App. 3d 806 (2001), I do not understand that case to mandate the remand of this matter for resentencing. The Chanthaloth case was an early disposition in the Apprendi series of cases. While it remains a valid analysis of the law of sentencing after the Apprendi decision, later decisions by the supreme court, this appellate district, and the other appellate court districts across the state have sharpened and clarified the Illinois sentencing law as it relates to Apprendi challenges. See People v. Ford, 198 Ill. 2d 68 (2001); People v. Rivera, No. 2 — 98—1662 (December 5, 2001); People v. Reed, 324 Ill. App. 3d 671 (2001); People v. Vida, 323 Ill. App. 3d 554 (2001); People v. Nita, 319 Ill. App. 3d 949 (2001). Very recently, the First District found that the trial court properly considered the age of the victim when imposing an extended-term sentence even though the victim’s age had not been submitted as a factor to the jury. The reviewing court determined that evidence of the victim’s age had been presented during the trial, was undisputed by the parties, and did not require the trial court to weigh evidence or examine the defendant’s mental state. The reviewing court held that it was harmless error. People v. Blackwell, 325 Ill. App. 3d 354, 359-60 (2001). Finally, the principle that a trial court need find only a single statutory factor in aggravation to impose an extended sentence has also recently been reinforced. People v. Peacock, 324 Ill. App. 3d 749, 756-57 (2001). In this case, the trial court noted that it had considered defendant’s prior criminal history, which included a 1991 aggravated battery conviction, as well as other aggravating and mitigating factors when sentencing defendant. While I will concede that the trial court did not expressly highlight this conviction or indicate specific reliance on this conviction, the fact remains that such a prior conviction exists. More significantly, this prior conviction is of aggravated battery, and the charge for which defendant received an extended-term sentence is an aggravated battery. Since the trial court need find only a single statutory factor in aggravation to impose an extended term, and the use of the defendant’s prior criminal history is not prohibited by Apprendi (530 U.S. at 490, 147 L. Ed. 2d at 455, 120 S. Ct. at 2362-63), I would allow the sentence to stand and affirm this case in its entirety.