2022 IL App (1st) 200741-U No. 1-20-0741 Second Division July 12, 2022 NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ____________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT ____________________________________________________________________________ ) Appeal from the THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) Circuit Court of ILLINOIS, ) Cook County. ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) No. 15 CR 10957 v. ) ) JAYNI FOWLER, ) Honorable ) Michael Joseph Kane, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding. ____________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE COBBS delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Fitzgerald Smith and Justice Lavin concurred in the judgment. ORDER ¶1 Held: The circuit court’s dismissal of defendant’s initial pro se postconviction petition is affirmed where his claim that the proportionate penalties clause impacted his sentence as a youthful offender is forfeited and he has not set forth the gist of a claim of ineffective assistance of plea counsel. ¶2 In 2016, defendant-appellant Jayni Fowler pled guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 34 years’ imprisonment. Defendant did not move to withdraw his guilty plea or pursue a direct appeal. On December 17, 2019, defendant filed a pro se postconviction petition pursuant No. 1-20-0741 to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2018)), which the circuit court summarily dismissed. On appeal, defendant argues that the circuit court erred in dismissing his petition because he stated the gist of a claim that his plea was invalid based on plea counsel’s erroneous advice on the possible sentencing range and the proportionate penalties clause impacted his sentencing as a youthful offender. For the following reasons, we affirm. ¶3 I. BACKGROUND ¶4 In July 2015, defendant was indicted on 24 counts in connection with a shooting that occurred on May 20, 2015, when defendant was 18 years old. The charges alleged that defendant fired a handgun toward a group of five children, aged 11 to 14 years old, injuring one of them. The indictment included four counts of attempted murder against the injured victim (720 ILCS 5/8- 4(a), 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2014)) and eight counts of attempted murder related to the four uninjured victims (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2014)). Additionally, there were seven counts of aggravated battery involving a child under 13 years old (720 ILCS 5/12-3.05 (West 2014)) and five counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a) (West 2014)). ¶5 On December 29, 2016, defendant entered into a negotiated guilty plea. We set forth the plea discussions before the circuit court to the extent relevant to the issues on appeal. ¶6 Before the court, the State recited the plea offer as follows: “Judge, the agreement is for 34 years on Count 1. The sentence is delineated with nine years on the substantive attempt first-degree murder, 6 to 30 with an additional 25 for the firearm enhancement. That’s the minimum on the firearm enhancement. It will be stipulated that great bodily harm was produced by the defendant when he …
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