People v. Stewart

Defendant Rashaun Stewart was convicted after a bench trial of being an armed habitual criminal (AHC) and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (UPWF), with the State relying on a prior conviction for reckless discharge of a firearm as a predicate forcible felony. Stewart's pretrial motions challenging that predicate were denied, and he was sentenced to 10 years for AHC (with two counts merged into it) and concurrent 4-year terms on two other counts, receiving 49 days of presentence credit. He appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the forcible-felony predicate and the credit calculation.

The Illinois Appellate Court, Third District, reversed the AHC conviction and the UPWF conviction tied to the same predicate, holding that reckless discharge of a firearm is not an enumerated forcible felony and does not automatically qualify under the residual clause of section 2-8, which requires proof that the defendant contemplated or was willing to use force against an individual. The properly admitted evidence—that Stewart fired a gun into the air, fled, and discarded the weapon—was insufficient, and the State's additional facts (including that he allegedly aimed at another person) were inadmissible hearsay drawn from police reports never stipulated to or proven at trial. The court also found it lacked jurisdiction over two merged counts because no sentence was imposed on them, and remanded the presentence credit claim under Rule 472 since it was raised for the first time on appeal.

The decision is significant for practitioners litigating AHC and UPWF charges predicated on non-enumerated felonies, emphasizing rigorous proof requirements and evidentiary limits on hearsay, as well as procedural requirements for merged counts and presentence credit disputes.