Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog
The short answer to this question is maybe. But whether you would be convicted of a Domestic Battery for simply slapping your child is a different question. This issue is a little complex so let me take a little time to explain what’s involved with this question.
You could be charged with a Domestic Battery in Illinois if you intentionally or knowingly make physical contact with another person that causes bodily harm or is of an insulting or provoking nature. What makes slapping your child a “Domestic” Battery is that the victim is a family member. Slapping a child clearly fits the statutory definition of a Domestic Battery. But the rules are applied differently when the physical contact involves the discipline of your child.
In 2002, the Illinois Court of Appeals considered this question and issued a decision which carves out an exception when the contact with the family member involves disciplining a child. The case is People v. Roberts, 351 Ill.App. 3d 684 (2002). The case involved an incident that began with an argument between a daughter and her mother. The father arrived home to find the two in the midst of a heated argument. The argument escalated and the father became involved in the dispute by grabbing the 16-year-old daughter by the hair which resulted in an injury to her eye. The police charged the father with a Domestic Battery because they claim that what he did, grabbing her by the hair, was without legal justification and fell under the elements of the Illinois Domestic Battery statute. The case proceeded to trial. At the jury instruction conference the lawyer for the defendant father requested that the court include a jury instruction instructing the jury that the defendant father could be legally justified in using reasonable force to discipline his child. The court denied the request because the Illinois Domestic Battery statute does not specifically allow for this defense. The defendant father was ultimately found guilty of Domestic Battery by the jury and appealed the conviction by claiming that the trial court made a mistake by not including this instruction in the jury instructions. The Court of Appeals overruled the trial court and threw out the Domestic Battery conviction because it found that the trial court should have included the instruction letting the jury know that “a parent is legally justified in using reasonable force when necessary as part of reasonable discipline of a child.” The court agreed that the statute does not specifically allow for this but applied the common law and established this defense to a Domestic Battery charge in Illinois involving the discipline of a child.
If you have been placed on Probation this means that you either plead guilty to a felony, or were found guilty after a trial of a felony, and received a sentence of Probation from the court. A sentence of Probation is the sentence that you receive just short of going to jail. The court will require that you do certain things such as get a mental health evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations, get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow through on any of their recommendations, perform community service or SWAP, get a high school diploma, or whatever other conditions that the court may require. Every case is different and the terms of the Probation will vary from case to case. While you are on Probation you cannot violate the law and you must appear for every court date and for every meeting with your Probation Officer. Plus, you must pay all the fines, fees and court costs.
I woke up to multiple news reports this morning that former National Security advisor, Michael Flynn, has offered to cooperate with Federal Investigators in return for a grant of immunity. I was watching news coverage and notice that the media is not reporting all of the various factors and steps that have to be taken in order for this to happen. The reporting is very simple. However, the topic is certainly more complex than what is being reported. I want to focus on a couple of things that the media is not talking about.
The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office has a unique program which gives first time non-violent offenders an opportunity to avoid having a felony or misdemeanor conviction on their record. It’s called the Deferred Prosecution Program. The Kane County Deferred Prosecution Program started in 1995 and was originally called “Second Chance.” Prosecutors working in Kane County, as well as criminal defense lawyers, have long sensed that this was a good program with good results. Recently, those beliefs were proven to be true. A study was conducted with the help of Aurora University to study how effective this program was. That study showed that 92% of criminal defendants placed into this program have not been convicted of any crime since completing the program. A 92% success rate is good no matter how you look at it. In my 26 years of practicing criminal law, I have had the opportunity to have many of my clients accepted into this program and agree that it is effective and is a great opportunity for a first-time offender to avoid having a criminal record. Let’s discuss what this program is and how it all works.
TASC Probation is a special kind of probation that is available to criminal defendants who have substance abuse issues and elect to receive treatment for their disorder. It’s a possible sentence that I have explored throughout the years to help my clients avoid a criminal conviction and be able to move on with their lives. TASC stands for “Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities.” This not for profit organization has offices throughout the State of Illinois in every County that provides treatment services for adults who have substance abuse issues. TASC probation is different from regular drug probation in that you do not have to be charged with a drug crime to receive TASC probation.