In Re NRL

558 N.E.2d 538, 200 Ill. App. 3d 820
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 18, 1990
Docket2-88-1107
StatusPublished

This text of 558 N.E.2d 538 (In Re NRL) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re NRL, 558 N.E.2d 538, 200 Ill. App. 3d 820 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

200 Ill. App.3d 820 (1990)
558 N.E.2d 538

In re N.R.L., a Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner-Appellee,
v.
N.R.L., Respondent-Appellant).[*]

No. 2-88-1107.

Illinois Appellate Court — Second District.

Opinion filed July 18, 1990.

*821 G. Joseph Weller and Robert C. Cooper, both of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Elgin, for appellant.

Gary V. Johnson, State's Attorney, of Geneva (William L. Browers and David A. Bernhard, both of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

Order affirmed.

PRESIDING JUSTICE UNVERZAGT delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondent, N.R.L., a minor, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Kane County finding that he violated the terms of his probation.

On April 1, 1987, N.R.L. was adjudged a delinquent based on allegations of battery and mob action, and he was placed on probation for a period of 12 months. On July 15, 1987, he was again adjudged delinquent as the result of two incidents of criminal damage to property. He was ordered to pay restitution, and the terms of his probation remained unchanged.

On March 8, 1988, the State filed a petition to revoke N.R.L.'s *822 probation alleging that he had committed an aggravated battery by striking his high school teacher. On March 18, 1988, the State filed a petition to adjudicate him delinquent based on the same action. There was a single hearing on the two petitions.

At the hearing, Bernice Roome testified that she was a teacher at Larkin High School. On February 8, 1988, N.R.L. was a student in her freshmen English class. On that date, Ms. Roome handed out computerized registration sheets to the students. She advised them not to fold the sheets; N.R.L., however, folded his. She told him again not to fold the paper. At that point he cursed, told her he could do what he pleased with the paper, and folded it again. She held her hand out and asked him for the paper. He refused. As she reached for the paper, he cursed again, jumped up, raised his right fist, hit her in the chest, and knocked her to the ground. She sustained bruises and a fracture of the right foot.

N.R.L. testified that when Ms. Roome asked him for the paper, he held the paper away from her. She reached for the paper and grabbed his wrist. Then she grabbed his shirt and pulled it up. He stood up and pulled his arm back to hit her, but he stopped himself. They had a tug-of-war with the paper, and when it ripped Ms. Roome fell down. He said that he did not hit her.

The defense also called four students who were present in the classroom at the time of the incident. Their testimony basically corroborated N.R.L.'s testimony. They all testified that there was an argument about the paper and that N.R.L. had not hit Ms. Roome. They said that she fell when the paper ripped or when N.R.L. pulled his hand from her grasp.

In rebuttal, the State called another student who had been present at the time of the incident. He said that N.R.L. hit Ms. Roome in the shoulder with a closed fist and knocked her down.

After hearing the evidence, the trial court said:

"Court * * * finds that the evidence presented and put on the scales of justice are such that I cannot raise this issue up to beyond a reasonable doubt, it's just not there; but I do believe that it's more probably true than not true that [N.R.L.] committed the offense of battery and aggravated battery in that classroom on February the 8th, and I will therefore find him to have violated the terms of his probation."

The court extended N.R.L.'s probation to July 24, 1989, and sentenced him to 14 days in the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center. This appeal ensued.

The minor first contends that the trial court's finding that he violated *823 the terms of his probation is against the manifest weight of the evidence. He asserts that, by finding for him on the delinquency petition, the court necessarily affirmed his version of the confrontation "as there was no middle ground in the two versions." He concludes:

"The court could not simultaneously find that the minor was innocent and that he struck Ms. Roome. The only logical conclusion consistent with the court's finding that the minor did not strike Ms. Roome, is that nonetheless, the minor caused her great bodily harm by engaging in a tug-of-war with the piece of paper."

He asserts that, even if Ms. Roome suffered bodily harm, the court's findings indicate that the State failed to prove the necessary element of intent.

• 1 The minor's argument is based on a faulty premise. He presumes that the court found that he was "innocent" and that he did not strike Ms. Roome. There were no such findings. To the contrary, the court's statement, quoted above, indicates that the court believed the testimony of Ms. Roome and not that of the minor and the defense witnesses. The court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the minor had committed aggravated battery. The fact that the court found that the evidence did not prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt is not legally inconsistent.

• 2 Pursuant to section 5-18 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the standard of proof at an adjudicatory hearing is the same as that applicable to criminal proceedings (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 37, par. 805-18), that is, the offense must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 3-1). The standard of proof at a probation revocation hearing is lower; the State is required to prove the violation only by a preponderance of the evidence. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 37, par. 805-25(3).) The same evidence may be sufficient to prove an offense by a preponderance of the evidence yet be insufficient to prove the same offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

We would also point out that an acquittal on a criminal charge does not prove that the defendant is innocent; it merely proves the existence of a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms (1984), 465 U.S. 354, 361, 79 L.Ed.2d 361, 368, 104 S.Ct. 1099, 1104.

• 3 The evidence in this case was sufficient to prove the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. The minor was charged with committing an aggravated battery in violation of section 12-4(b)(3) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 12-4(b)(3)). A person commits an aggravated battery under this section if *824 he intentionally or knowingly without legal justification and by any means causes bodily harm to an individual knowing that the individual harmed is a teacher. There is no question that Ms. Roome is a teacher. She testified that the minor raised his right fist, struck her in the chest, and knocked her to the ground. As a result of the incident she suffered bruises and a fracture of the foot. Her testimony that the minor struck her was corroborated by a student eyewitness. Ms. Roome's testimony that the minor raised his fist and struck her was sufficient to prove that he acted intentionally.

• 4 There was conflicting testimony; the minor and four other student eyewitnesses testified that the minor never struck Ms. Roome. The trial court resolved this conflict in the State's favor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
558 N.E.2d 538, 200 Ill. App. 3d 820, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-nrl-illappct-1990.