Court Opinion

ID: 9717079
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:57:27.180504+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:51.076734
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE LINN, dissenting in part: I cannot agree that the imposition of an extended-term sentence for murder here was erroneous. The evidence supported the trial judge’s finding that the defendant, with premeditation and in cold blood, shot and killed the victim while robbing him. Under these circumstances, despite the defendant’s youth and expression of regret, I cannot conclude that the determination that his actions were exceptionally brutal and heinous was an abuse of discretion. (See People v. La Pointe (1982), 88 Ill. 2d 482, 431 N.E.2d 344.) Similarly, where the judge found that the defendant actually shot the victim, we do not believe the difference between his 80-year murder sentence, and his 23-year-old codefendant’s 20-year sentence, was so disparate as to constitute an abuse of discretion. (See People v. Moon (1982), 107 Ill. App. 3d 568, 437 N.E.2d 823.) Nor does the record support the claim that the trial judge failed to consider the defendant’s rehabilitative potential. I would affirm the sentences imposed by the trial court.