People v. Sanderson, 53 N.E.3d 296

Defendant Nicholas Sanderson was convicted of armed habitual criminal, unlawful use of a weapon (UUW) by a felon, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW) and sentenced to concurrent six-year terms.
The armed habitual criminal charge required proof that he possessed a firearm after two or more predicate convictions, including aggravated UUW and attempted residential burglary.
At trial the State introduced only a certified copy of the prior attempted residential burglary conviction and offered no facts about the prior offense.
Sanderson argued the attempted residential burglary could not serve as a predicate forcible felony because its elements do not necessarily involve contemplated use of force and there were no facts showing he contemplated violence.
The State argued that attempted residential burglary is inherently a forcible felony (or that any attempt to an enumerated forcible felony is inherently forcible).
The State conceded (and the court agreed) that one of the weapon convictions must be vacated under the one-act, one-crime rule and that the mittimus required an extra day of credit for time served.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether attempted residential burglary qualifies as a "forcible felony" for armed habitual criminal	Attempt to enumerate forcible felonies (like residential burglary) is inherently forcible because attempt contemplates possible violence	Attempted residential burglary's elements do not require contemplating force; absent evidence of facts showing contemplated violence, it cannot be a forcible felony	Attempted residential burglary is not inherently a forcible felony; without facts showing the defendant contemplated or was willing to use force, it cannot serve as a predicate — armed habitual criminal conviction reversed
Whether multiple weapon convictions based on single possession violate one-act, one-crime rule	Both convictions valid	Single physical act (possession) produced multiple convictions; one must be vacated	Vacate AUUW and affirm the more serious UUW by a felon conviction
Whether defendant is entitled to additional credit for time served on the mittimus	Additional day of credit warranted	—	Clerk directed to correct mittimus to reflect 583 days credit

People v. Belk, 203 Ill. 2d 187 (Ill. 2003) (residual clause requires proof defendant contemplated and was willing to use force under the particular facts)
People v. Thomas, 407 Ill. App. 3d 136 (Ill. App. Ct. 2011) (an attempt crime qualifies as forcible felony if an element requires specific intent to commit a violent act)
People v. Greer, 326 Ill. App. 3d 890 (Ill. App. Ct. 2002) (circumstantial proof that defendant contemplated use or threat of violence can make an otherwise nonviolent felony a forcible felony)
People v. Artis, 232 Ill. 2d 156 (Ill. 2009) (one-act, one-crime rule prohibits multiple convictions based on a single physical act)
People v. Rodriguez, 169 Ill. 2d 183 (Ill. 1996) (same: only one criminal conviction for a single act)