People v. Vega

Defendant was convicted of criminal damage to government-supported property in excess of $500, a Class 3 felony. Defendant's counsel was ineffective for failing to timely discover that sales tax might have been wrongly charged and paid during the repair process, such that the actual damage was under $500, making his offense a Class 4 felony. Cost of repairs should take into account only reasonable amounts, and a sales tax that is not owed is not a reasonable cost of repairs. Counsel's performance fell below objective standard of reasonableness, and but for counsel's error, sales tax would have been excluded and result of proceeding would have been different. (JORGENSEN and McLAREN, concurring.)