People v. Fane

2025 IL App (4th) 241296-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 8, 2025
Docket4-24-1296
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2025 IL App (4th) 241296-U (People v. Fane) 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. Fane, 2025 IL App (4th) 241296-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

NOTICE 2025 IL App (4th) 241296-U FILED This Order was filed under May 8, 2025 Supreme Court Rule 23 and is NO. 4-24-1296 not precedent except in the Carla Bender limited circumstances allowed 4th District Appellate under Rule 23(e)(1). IN THE APPELLATE COURT Court, IL

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Circuit Court of v. ) Stephenson County TWIQWON R. FANE, ) No. 16CF283 Defendant-Appellant. ) ) Honorable ) Glenn R. Schorsch, ) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE ZENOFF delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Vancil and Cavanagh concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The appellate court reversed an order granting the State’s motion to dismiss defendant’s amended postconviction petition where defendant made a substantial showing of ineffective assistance of counsel during plea negotiations.

¶2 Defendant, Twiqwon R. Fane, appeals an order dismissing his amended

postconviction petition at the second stage of proceedings. We reverse and remand for a third-stage

evidentiary hearing on defendant’s claim.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 On November 18, 2016, the State charged defendant by complaint with six

offenses. Each charge arose out of entering a residence without authority and battering the elderly

homeowner, Voncile Modlinger. Relevant to this appeal, count I alleged defendant committed the

offense of home invasion (720 ILCS 5/19-6(a)(2) (West 2016)) in that he entered Modlinger’s

dwelling, knowing her to be present therein. ¶5 On November 21, 2016, the matter came before Judge James Hauser for an initial

appearance. The trial court admonished defendant as follows about the potential prison sentence

he faced on the home invasion count:

“The home invasion charge is a Class X felony. As such[,] on that one, you

could be sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections [(DOC)] for a

minimum term of six and a maximum term of 30 years. If your prior record is bad

enough, the DOC sentence could be extended to a maximum term of 60 years.”

¶6 On December 1, 2016, the State charged defendant by superseding information with

seven offenses. Count I was substantially similar to the first count of the original complaint.

Count II added a second charge of home invasion on a slightly different theory, that defendant

entered and remained in Modlinger’s dwelling until he knew or had reason to know she was present

therein.

¶7 On December 1, 2016, the matter came before Judge Michael Bald for a preliminary

hearing. Before conducting that hearing, the trial court admonished defendant as follows about the

potential prison sentence he faced on the home invasion counts:

“If you’re convicted of those, there would be a term in [DOC] that’s ordinarily a

set term somewhere between 6 and 30 years in length. However, if by reason of

your prior criminal history you were eligible for an extended term, then it could go

as high as 60 years.”

After hearing evidence and determining there was probable cause, the court again admonished

defendant about the potential prison sentence he faced on the home invasion counts:

“Home invasion is a Class X felony. If you either plead guilty or are found guilty

at trial of these charges, the potential penalties would be a term in [DOC]

-2- somewhere between 6 and 30 years ordinarily. However, if you were eligible for

an extended term, the maximum on that could go as high as 60 years.”

Later during this same court appearance, the court asked whether the parties had any motions. The

prosecutor indicated he filed three motions and “a notice of seeking enhanced sentencing in this

case for the home invasion charges.” Defense counsel acknowledged that “[w]e’ve received the

motions that the State has referred to” and asked for the court to defer ruling on two of those

motions until he could discuss them with defendant. There was no further discussion in court that

day about the State seeking an “enhanced” sentence.

¶8 The record contains the State’s “Notice of Intent to Seek an Enhanced Sentence,”

which was filed on December 1, 2016. The notice misidentified the relevant statute and subsection

by citing the nonexistent “730 ILCS 5/5-3.2(b)(3)(iii)” instead of 730 ILCS 5/5-5-3.2(b)(3)(ii)

(West 2016). The notice also imprecisely referenced an “enhancement,” as it would have been

more accurate to say that the State was seeking an extended-term sentence. See 725 ILCS

5/111-3(c) (West 2016) (defining “ ‘enhanced sentence’ ” as “a sentence which is increased by a

prior conviction from one classification of offense to another higher level classification,” as

opposed to “an increase in the sentence applied within the same level of classification of offense,”

which is what the State sought here). Nevertheless, the notice used the phrase “extended term”

once, and it would have been apparent from the context—to a trained lawyer, at least—that the

State was seeking an extended-term sentence on the two home invasion charges because the victim

was 60 years of age or older at the time of the offenses. The notice did not specify defendant’s

sentencing range, and there is no indication in the record that defendant personally received a copy

of this notice.

¶9 Defendant was never again admonished on the record about either the sentencing

-3- consequences of his charges or the fact that the State intended to seek an extended-term sentence.

¶ 10 In October 2017, Judge Val Gunnarsson presided over defendant’s jury trial.

Relevant to this appeal, the jury found defendant not guilty of home invasion as charged in count I

but guilty of home invasion as charged in count II. The jury also found the State proved its

allegation that Modlinger was 60 years of age or older at the time of the offense.

¶ 11 On November 3, 2017, defendant’s counsel filed a posttrial motion on defendant’s

behalf. On November 17, 2017, defendant filed a pro se motion, alleging ineffective assistance of

counsel in multiple respects. Relevant here, defendant alleged:

“1. My attorney failed to inform me of the Notice of Intent to seek an

Enhanced sentence. The notice was given to him on a day being 12-01-2016,

however I was not informed about the Notice until after trial, on 11-03-2017. If I

would have been made aware of this Notice it is possible I would have entered into

a plea agreement & not proceeded to trial. The knowledge of this Notice being

withheld by my attorney adversely affected my decision.”

¶ 12 On December 1, 2017, Judge Gunnarsson conducted an inquiry into defendant’s

allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel consistent with the standards articulated in People

v. Krankel, 102 Ill. 2d 181 (1984). Relevant here, defendant’s counsel told the trial court that he

and defendant had good communication “throughout this time.” Counsel added the following,

which was pertinent to the issue of an extended-term sentence:

“I did have communication with [defendant] both before and during the trial.

He’s particularly complaining about the fact that I didn’t communicate to

him *** the State’s intention to seek an enhanced sentence in this case.

And I can tell the Court that *** after the trial was over and we were

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2025 IL App (4th) 241296-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-fane-illappct-2025.