The man was convicted of aggravated domestic battery. He was also convicted of other offenses. Fifteen years prior to the incident, the man and the woman dated for 2 years. At the time of the incident, they were just friends.
Then, the two spent a night drinking together. And having sex. The woman slept over at the man’s home. They argued about another woman in the man’s life. The man stabbed and strangled her the next morning.
The man appealed his conviction. He argued that he cannot be convicted under the domestic violence statute. That is the statute that is used for getting an Order of Protection in some cases.
The Domestic Violence statute defines the types of relationships that can be included. It is used for family members, people who had dating relationships, siblings, etc.
The man argued that they had dated long ago. So, the court cannot use that old dating relationship to convict him. The Appellate Court agreed with him.
The State appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. That court reversed the appellate court decision. Our Supreme Court said that the Illinois legislature did not include a time limit for former dating relationships. The facts of this case would certainly warrant placing no time limit.
The purpose of the Domestic Violence statute is to stop domestic violence. That purpose certainly does not allow a court to rule that there was a time limit on the dating relationship here.
It was reasonable to place this victim within the protection of the aggravated domestic battery statute.
People v. Gray, 2017 IL 120958, September 21, 2017.
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