People v. Brown

Brown was charged with being an armed habitual criminal and home invasion with a firearm. Brown entered a negotiated guilty plea to being an armed habitual criminal and was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment, after the court explained that the charge was a Class X felony with a minimum sentence of six years and a maximum sentence of 30 years, and admonished Brown of his trial rights and the consequences of waiving those rights. Brown responded that he understood and that he agreed with the state's recommendation of 18 years. He denied that he was promised anything or forced to accept the plea. Brown later sought a reduction of sentence, asserting that he received ineffective assistance because his counsel erroneously advised that he would serve only 50% of his sentence. The statute requires a person convicted of armed habitual criminal to serve 85% of the sentence (730 ILCS 5/3-6-3(a)(2)(ii). The court dismissed without an evidentiary hearing. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed. Brown’s allegations were insufficient to establish prejudice. There is little doubt that Brown would have been convicted of both charges and he has a significant criminal history. By pleading guilty, he received only a single felony conviction and a mid-range sentence. Brown avoided conviction for home invasion, a Class X felony with a mandatory 15-year firearm enhancement, for a sentencing range of 21-45 years’ imprisonment. Nothing in his plea colloquy demonstrates that Brown’s primary focus was serving 50% of his sentence; he denied that he was promised anything. View "People v. Brown" on Justia Law