Kaczmarek v. Rednour

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant's habeas petition challenging his extended sentence of life in prison based on Ill. trial court's finding that instant murder was accompanied by exceptionally brutal and heinous behavior. While defendant argued that said extended sentence violated Apprendi because trial court, as opposed to jury, made requisite finding that murder was exceptionally brutal and heinous, defendant procedurally defaulted said issue when he failed to raise it in trial court, and when Ill. Supreme Court rejected defendant's Apprendi argument under plain error standard after finding that defendant could not establish prejudice with respect to any Apprendi violation. Moreover, with respect to default issue, defendant failed to show that application of default ruling would create potential for miscarriage of justice.