People v. Howard

Following a jury trial, defendant, Antoine Howard, was convicted of one count of armed robbery and sentenced to nine years’ incarceration. Defendant has appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing that (1) the trial court improperly admitted evidence of prior crimes to establish modus operandi and (2) his sentence was excessive and predicated upon improper fáctors where the trial court erroneously considered his continued claim of innocence as an aggravating factor.

The State charged that defendant robbed Professor Alfred Rosenbloom on April 20, 1996, near the University of Illinois at…