People v. Robinson

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of residential burglary and aggravated battery of security guard and resident of apartment building who discovered Defendant attempting to remove his flat screen TV from his apartment. Physical altercation ensued in which Defendant bit off resident's lower lip which, after surgeries, resulted in speech impediment. Court within its discretion in sentencing in making reasonable inference as to long-lasting effects of attack. Defendant had 9 prior residential burglary convictions and was on Mandatory Supervised Release for 8 of those convictions at time of offense. Defendant did not have a substantial change in criminal objective, as his only real objective was to finish burglarizing and then escape, and any harm done to resident was a means to effectuate that objective. Thus, Defendant's effort to escape should not be basis for extended term upon lesser offense. Thus, mittimus is modified to reduce aggravated battery to 5 years, and to run concurrently with 30-year residential burglary sentence. (PALMER and REYES, concurring.)