People v. Stewart

This case presents question as to whether defendant’s prior conviction for residential burglary qualified him for Class X sentencing treatment on his conviction on charge of possession of stolen motor vehicle, where defendant was only 17 years old at time he committed residential burglary offence. Appellate Court, in vacating sentence and remanding matter for resentencing, found that defendant’s 2013 residential burglary conviction could not support imposition of instant Class X sentence, because: (1) had defendant’s residential burglary offense been committed on August 13, 2016 date of instant possession of stolen motor vehicle offense, it would have been resolved through delinquency proceedings; and (2) any offense resolved through delinquency proceedings in juvenile court could not qualify as Class 2 or greater offense for purposes of Class X sentencing treatment.  In its petition for leave to appeal, govt. argued that conviction rendered while defendant was juvenile could be used for purposes of qualifying for Class X sentencing treatment because there is no distinction between convictions that were rendered while defendant was juvenile and those that occurred after he had aged out of juvenile court.