People v. Cunningham

851 N.E.2d 653, 365 Ill. App. 3d 991, 303 Ill. Dec. 466, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 381
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 9, 2006
Docket5-04-0320
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 851 N.E.2d 653 (People v. Cunningham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Cunningham, 851 N.E.2d 653, 365 Ill. App. 3d 991, 303 Ill. Dec. 466, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 381 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

JUSTICE McGLYNN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Taffia Cunningham, the defendant, was convicted of home invasion, armed violence (based on residential burglary), and residential burglary and was sentenced to two concurrent 20-year prison sentences. After making a finding that the defendant’s conduct caused great bodily harm, the trial court also ruled that pursuant to section 3 — 6—3(a)(2)(iii) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/3— 6 — 3(a)(2)(iii) (West 2000)), the defendant must serve 85% of her sentence before she is eligible for mandatory supervised release. On appeal, the defendant argues that her convictions for armed violence and residential burglary must be vacated, and she also argues that she should not be required to serve at least 85% of her sentence, because it was her coconspirator who suffered “great bodily harm,” not the actual victim in this case. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm in part and vacate in part.

The defendant was a graduate student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. On September 8, 2001, the defendant, her twin brother — Tyree Cunningham, a graduate student friend, and two other friends got together and decided to go over to a local drug dealer’s house and steal money and drugs. After the drug dealer opened the door without ascertaining who was there, Tyree entered the house wearing dark clothes and a face mask and carrying a shotgun. Tyree yelled at the drug dealer to get down or be killed, and the drug dealer shot Tyree and killed him. The defendant and the rest of the would-be thieves fled the scene. Since the drug dealer was hesitant, to say the least, to call the police, he and his friends removed Tyree’s body from the house and dumped it along a country road.

After the body was found, the defendant was charged with first-degree felony murder, home invasion, armed violence based on residential burglary, and residential burglary, based upon her accountability for the crimes. A first trial ended with the jury hopelessly deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared. The second jury trial ended with the jury concluding that the defendant was guilty on all the charges but felony murder.

Despite the defendant’s crime-free past and glowing recommendations from her graduate school professors, the trial judge imposed concurrent 20-year sentences on the home invasion and armed violence charges. The trial court also found that since great bodily harm had been inflicted, the defendant would not be eligible for mandatory supervised release until she had served at least 85% of her sentences. The defendant now appeals, arguing (1) that her conviction for home invasion is based upon the same acts as her conviction for armed violence, (2) that her conviction for residential burglary must be vacated since she received no sentence for the crime, and (3) that her brother was a coconspirator and not a “victim” for purposes of the “truth-in-sentencing” statute.

We first address the second point, which the State concedes. There is no dispute that the defendant’s conviction for residential burglary was a lesser-included offense which merged into her conviction for armed violence based on the residential burglary. Thus, the trial court was correct in not imposing a sentence on the charge. See People v. Cooper, 283 Ill. App. 3d 86, 93, 669 N.E.2d 637, 642-43 (1996), citing People v. King, 66 Ill. 2d 551, 363 N.E.2d 838 (1977). Without a sentence, however, the conviction is incomplete and must be vacated. Cooper, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 93, 669 N.E.2d at 643. Without the imposition of a sentence — or a final judgment on the charge — an appeal should not be entertained. Cooper, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 93, 669 N.E.2d at 643, citing People v. Turnipseed, 274 Ill. App. 3d 527, 531, 653 N.E.2d 1258, 1260-61 (1995). Nevertheless, this case is properly before us on the defendant’s appeal of the home invasion and armed violence convictions. Thus, we are authorized under Supreme Court Rule 366 (155 Ill. 2d R. 366) to vacate the incomplete judgment entered on the residential burglary verdict. Cooper, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 93, 669 N.E.2d at 643. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of conviction for the lesser-included offense of residential burglary. Cooper, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 93, 669 N.E.2d at 643.

The defendant makes a similar argument in her first point on appeal. The defendant contends that her conviction and sentence for armed violence also must be vacated because the conviction is based upon the same act as her conviction for home invasion — the act of entering the drug dealer’s apartment with a shotgun. After de novo review (People v. Boyd, 307 Ill. App. 3d 991, 998, 719 N.E.2d 306, 311 (1999)), we disagree. 1

A person commits the crime of home invasion when he or she (1) knowingly enters a dwelling without authorization to do so, (2) while armed with a dangerous weapon, (3) with the knowledge that someone is present in the dwelling, and (4) commits or threatens violence against someone in the dwelling. 720 ILCS 5/12 — 11(a)(3) (West 2000). 2 A person “commits armed violence when, while armed with a dangerous weapon, he commits any felony defined by Illinois [l]aw.” 720 ILCS 5/33A — 2(a) (West 2000). The defendant’s charge of armed violence is based on the felony of residential burglary. A person commits residential burglary when he or she (1) knowingly enters a dwelling without authorization to do so, (2) with the intent to commit a felony or theft. 720 ILCS 5/19 — 3(a) (West 2000).

The Illinois Supreme Court has long held that when more than one offense arises from a series of closely related acts and the offenses are not, by definition, lesser-included offenses, multiple convictions with concurrent sentences may be entered. People v. Hawkins, 125 Ill. App. 3d 520, 521, 466 N.E.2d 299, 300 (1984) (relying on People v. King, 66 Ill. 2d 551, 566, 363 N.E.2d 838, 845 (1977)). In order to make this determination, we must look at the charging instrument and ascertain whether the greater offense, as pled by the State, sets out the main outline of the lesser offense. Hawkins, 125 Ill. App. 3d at 521, 466 N.E.2d at 300; People v. McLaurin, 184 Ill. 2d 58, 104, 703 N.E.2d 11, 33 (1998) (stating the Illinois Supreme Court’s preference for the “charging-instrument” approach in identifying lesser-included offenses).

“[T]o be a lesser[-]included offense, the greater offense must include every element in the lesser offense plus one or more elements; the lesser offense cannot have any element that is not included in the greater one.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
851 N.E.2d 653, 365 Ill. App. 3d 991, 303 Ill. Dec. 466, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cunningham-illappct-2006.