People v. Corrie

690 N.E.2d 128, 294 Ill. App. 3d 496, 228 Ill. Dec. 819, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 30
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 22, 1998
Docket4-97-0050
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 690 N.E.2d 128 (People v. Corrie) 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
People v. Corrie, 690 N.E.2d 128, 294 Ill. App. 3d 496, 228 Ill. Dec. 819, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 30 (Ill. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In November 1996, a jury convicted defendant, Jackie Lynn Corrie, of aggravated battery of a child, finding that she knowingly caused great bodily harm to her son, A.C. (born June 20, 1995), when he was under 13 years of age (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4.3(a) (West 1994)). The trial court later sentenced her to 30 months’ probation, subject to various conditions. Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) the court erred in instructing the jury; (2) the State failed to prove her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and (3) the court erred in sentencing her. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

At defendant’s trial, the evidence showed the following. At approximately 7:15 a.m. on October 26,1995, defendant’s mother, Karen Skaggs, picked up A.C. (who was four months old at the time) and his four-year-old brother to take them to their baby-sitter’s house. Skaggs testified that A.C. was sitting in his car seat when she arrived at defendant’s house, and he appeared to be "fine.” She stopped on the way to the baby-sitter’s house to buy doughnuts and left the children in the car for a couple of minutes. When Skaggs dropped the children off at the baby-sitter’s house, nothing seemed wrong with A.C. She left the baby-sitter’s house shortly after 7:30 a.m.

Robin Champion, A.C.’s baby-sitter, testified that after Skaggs left, she put A.C. on the living room floor in his car seat. He was playing with some plastic toys and seemed fine. At some point, Champion began changing A.C.’s clothes and noticed "his whole body was limp,” his head was tilted, and his eyes were partially closed. Champion then held A.C.’s hands and tried to get him to respond. After a few seconds to a minute, she called defendant, who stated "oh, my God, or oh, my gosh,” but did not ask any questions about what was wrong with A.C. Champion denied shaking A.C. to get him to respond to her.

A.C. was transported from Champion’s house to BroMenn Medical Center (BroMenn). At BroMenn, A.C. was initially diagnosed with "meningitis, encephalitis.” Because his condition was worsening (he was experiencing seizures and a lessening level of alertness), he was transferred to St. Francis Medical Center (St. Francis) on the evening of October 26, 1995. Soon after his admission, A.C. underwent a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A radiologist initially interpreted the CAT scan as normal and the MRI as showing some areas of irritation in the brain.

Dr. Robert Cruse is a child neurologist and professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. On October 30, 1995, Cruse took over A.C.’s care from Cruse’s medical partner. On that date, Cruse examined A.C. and found him "sluggish, lethargic, *** [and without] purposeful movement.” He also examined A.C.’s eyes and found hemorrhaging which had previously gone unnoticed. Cruse reviewed the previous CAT scan and found there was "blood on the original CAT scan that had not been appreciated.” Cruse then reviewed the MRI and the CAT scan with a neuroradiologist (a radiologist specializing in brain hemorrhage), who agreed that the CAT scan revealed blood and the irritation shown on the MRI was "compatible with blood.” Cruse stated that "[a]t that point[,] it was clear there had been bleeding in the brain.” Cruse also stated that most of the blood was on the surface of A.C.’s brain, a condition which is "quite abnormal.”

Cruse then called in two ophthalmologists to more thoroughly examine A.C.’s eyes. Cruse stated that their examinations confirmed the hemorrhage and showed retinal tears and blood on different layers of A.C.’s eyes. Cruse also stated that after reviewing their examination findings, he changed A.C.’s diagnosis from encephalitis to "shaken baby syndrome.”

Dr. Cruse testified that "shaken baby syndrome is a term used for children who experience a vigorous, violent force of movement of their head forward and backwards.” When a child is shaken, his head is "going violently forward and backward with an acceleration/ deceleration force,” which results in bleeding on the brain’s surface between the skull and brain. Cruse also stated that such surface bleeding is typically the only symptom of shaken baby syndrome, and that, although he cannot give the exact amount of force required to cause the injuries suffered by A.C., it does require "a very vigorous and violent force.” Cruse opined that the onset of symptoms occurs within "a few hours” of a baby being shaken. He also opined that A.C.’s injuries were significant, stating that the life-threatening injuries "put him in [the] Intensive Care Unit, [and] caused coma and seizure[s] and hemorrhage to his brain.”

Dr. Peter Lagouros was one of the ophthalmologists who conducted an eye examination on A.C. He observed hemorrhage with schisis (a splitting of the retinal layers) within both retinas and blood in the front of the retinas. Lagouros opined that the combination of schisis and hemorrhage "is tantamount of Shaken Baby Syndrome, meaning there cannot be other causes.” On cross-examination, Lagouros stated that it is possible for shaken baby syndrome to occur during vigorous resuscitation efforts on a baby. Lagouros also stated that the damage to the eyes of a baby suffering from shaken baby syndrome would "[djevelop very quickly.”

Jay Brenneman, an investigator for the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), testified that he first spoke with defendant on November 1, 1995, after Kathy McVey, a social worker at St. Francis, contacted DCFS. During the first interview, defendant gave the following story: (1) on October 25, 1995, she and her husband, John, went to bed around 10 p.m., at which time A.C. was fine; (2) defendant starting feeling ill during the night; (3) A.C. awakened around 3:30 a.m. and John fed him; (4) the next morning, John left for work without taking the children to the baby-sitter, so defendant called Skaggs and asked her to do so; and (5) defendant put A.C. in his car seat before Skaggs arrived.

At some point during the interview, Brenneman told defendant that he thought she knew what happened, and she replied, "Is it possible that I could have done this and not known it?” Brenneman said he did not believe so and that he wanted to know how many times she shook A.C. Defendant said, "You’re right, but I only did it twice.” Defendant stated that as she was preparing to feed A.C. at around 6:45 a.m. on October 26, 1995, he was "fussy.” She shook him twice and told him to "wait a minute” for his bottle.

At this point in the interview, defendant began sobbing and said, "No, wait, I couldn’t have done this. I am just telling you this so[ ] you won’t take my children from me.” John then came into the room, and Brenneman told John what had taken place in the interview. Brenneman told John he thought defendant knew in her heart what happened. He then left defendant and John alone, and when he returned, defendant again admitted shaking A.C. Defendant signed a written statement indicating that she had shaken A.C. twice and that she was sorry for what happened.

The State also presented other evidence of defendant’s conflicting statements, in which she sometimes acknowledged that she had shaken A.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
690 N.E.2d 128, 294 Ill. App. 3d 496, 228 Ill. Dec. 819, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-corrie-illappct-1998.