People v. Heinz

910 N.E.2d 610, 391 Ill. App. 3d 854, 331 Ill. Dec. 201, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 317
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided June 1, 2009·No. 2-07-0139·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE McLAREN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant, Terry L. Heinz, was convicted of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 1(a) (West 2004)) and theft (720 ILCS 5/16 — 1(a)(1)(A) (West 2004)). Based on defendant’s prior felony convictions, the trial court found him subject to Class X sentencing (730 ILCS 5/5 — 5—3(c)(8) (West 2004)). Defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of 10 years’ imprisonment for the burglary conviction and 5 years’ imprisonment for the theft conviction, and he was ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution.

On appeal, defendant argues that: (1) his conviction of and sentence for theft must be vacated because theft is a lesser included offense of burglary; (2) his sentencing hearing was unfair because the trial court erroneously found that no statutory factors in mitigation applied; (3) the trial court improperly ordered restitution in the amount of $7,000; and (4) the mittimus should be corrected because he is entitled to a credit for three days’ time served in custody prior to sentencing. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the conviction of and sentence for theft; vacate the order of restitution and remand for a hearing on the amount of actual damages; and correct the mittimus to reflect three days’ credit for time served.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 23, 2005, defendant was indicted for the offenses of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 1(a) (West 2004)) and theft of property having a value in excess of $300 (720 ILCS 5/16 — 1(a)(1)(A) (West 2004)). Specifically, the burglary indictment alleged that “defendant without authority, knowingly entered a building of Liberty Lanes, located at 115 Meadowdale Drive, Carpentersville, Kane County, Illinois, with the intent to commit therein a theft.” The indictment for theft alleged that “defendant knowingly exerted unauthorized control over property of Liberty Lanes being United States currency having a total value in excess of $300.00 intending to deprive Liberty Lanes permanently of the use of the property.”

At trial, Cheryl Mikolitis, owner of Liberty Lanes bowling alley in Carpentersville, testified that she was at work at the bowling alley on the evening of October 11, 2004. She left around 10:30 p.m. Her employees, Kevin Miller and Steve Turnan, remained to clean up and close for the night. When she arrived at the bowling alley on the morning of October 12, she discovered that her office door was open and the door frame was damaged. A safe containing approximately $2,400 in cash and $300 in checks was missing, as well as two boxes containing 20 cartons of cigarettes.

Kevin Miller testified that he was the assistant manager of the bowling alley. His duties included closing after all the customers had left. This entailed counting the receipts, checking the building and doors, and, on October 11, supervising Steve Turnan, who was filling in for a regular employee. Miller stated that, during the evening of October 11, Matt Peters and his wife, Ellen, sat at the bar for a while, watching him work. Miller had been introduced to them a few days earlier. They left around 10 p.m.

Miller stated that around midnight defendant came inside to use the bathroom after the bowling alley was closed. Defendant was waiting for Steve Turnan to give him a ride home. After defendant left, Miller checked the building and then went home.

Steve Turnan testified pursuant to an agreement with the State. He had known defendant for about 12 years; in October 2004 defendant was living in his basement. He stated that, about two months prior to October, he had discussed burglarizing Liberty Lanes with defendant and with Matt and Ellen Peters. According to Turnan, the burglary was defendant’s idea. Turnan said that Matt and defendant approached him because he worked at the bowling alley. Tuman’s role in the burglary was to let Matt in through the back door. The plan was for Matt to hide inside while Turnan completed his chores for the night. Then Turnan was to leave with Kevin Miller after they finished their work. Turnan testified that, even though there was money in the cash registers, their plan was to steal only two safes. Matt was supposed to take the safes to the back door and then wait for help. Defendant was to act as lookout from the parking lot.

Turnan further testified that, on the night of the burglary, Matt and Ellen Peters arrived at the bowling alley around 6 p.m. and sat at the bar. They left around 10:30 p.m., when the bowling alley closed. Turnan testified that Matt then went around to the back of the building and Turnan let him in. Matt hid inside the bowling alley, above the mechanic’s room. Defendant came to the door and asked to be let in to use the bathroom, which was not part of the plan. After defendant left, Turnan and Miller finished closing and left at the same time. Turnan got into defendant’s car; Ellen was already there. By radio, defendant told Matt that everything was clear. Turnan then went to the back door of the building and helped Matt remove one safe, which they put in Matt’s truck. The plan was to steal another safe, but it was too heavy. Matt also stole about 20 cartons of cigarettes. Turnan testified that he and Matt drove Matt’s truck to Tuman’s house. Defendant and Ellen followed in defendant’s car. At Tuman’s house, defendant cut open the safe, which contained keys, tapes, checks, and $1,000 in cash. Turnan testified that he and Matt then drove to McHenry County to dispose of the safe; afterward, they met defendant and Ellen at a truck stop where they split up the cigarettes and defendant counted and distributed the cash.

Detective Todd Shaver of the Carpentersville police department investigated the burglary. He spoke to Cheryl Mikolitis and her husband, and to Steve Turnan, who was then held for investigation. He also interviewed Matt Peters at the McHenry County jail. After that he called defendant, who agreed to come to the police station.

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People v. Heinz, 910 N.E.2d 610, 391 Ill. App. 3d 854, 331 Ill. Dec. 201, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 317 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

910 N.E.2d 610 (People v. Heinz) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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