Domestic Battery In DuPage County – Not Guilty

Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery – Finding of Not Guilty After Trial in DuPage County

People v. RB – DuPage County Domestic Battery lawyer, James Dimeas, obtained a NOT GUILTY verdict for a client charged with Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery at the DuPage County courthouse. The client had no criminal record whatsoever. The client insisted from day 1 that he had no intent whatsoever to harm his wife.

On the night in question, the client and his wife were home with their two young sons having dinner. They had been going through some marital difficulties recently so they started discussing the state of their marriage early in the evening. As the evening progressed the discussion turned into an argument. After dinner they put their sons to sleep and continued the argument in the kitchen. The complaining witness and the client sat at the kitchen table and continued their argument.

They both started drinking alcohol and the argument became heated. The client made a statement that angered the complaining witness. The complaining witness called the client a derogatory name and poured the contents of the drink in her glass on the client. The client called the complaining witness a derogatory name and the complaining witness repeated the derogatory name and told the client that she was done talking to him and was going to sleep. The complaining witness left the kitchen and began walking down the stairs to the lower level of the home, which is where her bedroom was.

The complaining witness testified that she heard the client’s footsteps approaching her from behind. The client was following the complaining witness so he could “return the favor” and pour the contents of his drink on the complaining witness. The complaining witness testified that when she entered her bedroom she tried to close the door but could not because she noticed that the client was trying to push through the door to enter the bedroom. The complaining witness pushed against the door to prevent the client from entering the bedroom and could tell that the client was pushing the door. As the complaining witness was pushing against the door she felt an impact to her face and was stunned and immediately felt pain to her lower lip. She turned the light on in her bedroom and noticed blood all over her shirt. The complaining witness noticed that her lower lip had been cut and was bleeding. The client immediately offered to help the complaining witness treat the wound. The complaining witness became scared and picked up her cell phone to call the police. The complaining witness testified that she was unable to complete several phone calls because her cell phone was wet. The complaining witness exited the residence and went outside. When she realized that she did not have her cell phone with her she went back into the home and was unable to find her cellphone. The client had disassembled her cell phone so that it could dry out. The complaining witness was able to retrieve her cell phone and called the police to report the Domestic Battery.

After the police arrived the client fully cooperated with the police. He told them that he threw the contents of his glass onto the complaining witness and when he turned the light on he saw that she was bleeding. He had no idea how she had been injured. He insisted that he had no intent to hit her or cause her any harm whatsoever. His only intent was to throw the contents of his glass onto her. The client made a statement to that effect at the police station and he told the police officer his version of the events at the scene on several occasions.

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office charged the client with a Domestic Battery and with Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery. The case proceeded to trial and the prosecutor called the complaining witness and the police officer to testify. The state was unable to produce any evidence that the client intended to cause any injury to the complaining witness. The only evidence of the client’s intent was that he was intending to “return the favor” and throw the contents of the liquid in his glass onto the complaining witness like she had done to him in the kitchen.

DuPage County Domestic Battery attorney, James Dimeas, argued that since the criminal charge of Domestic Battery required that the state prove intent beyond a reasonable Doubt, that the State had failed to prove all the elements of the offense of Domestic Battery and that his client was not proven guilty of the Domestic Battery.

Since the state failed to produce any evidence that the client attempted to prevent the complaining witness from reporting the Domestic Battery, the court dismissed the charges of Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery after the state rested their case. The Court agreed with James Dimeas’s argument and found the client NOT GUILTY of the Domestic Battery and NOT GUILTY of Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery.

DuPage County Domestic Battery attorney, James Dimeas, has been handling Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery cases throughout Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, and Lake County for over-27 years. James Dimeas is a nationally-recognized, award-winning, Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery Lawyer and published author. The National Trial Lawyers named James Dimeas a “Top 100 Criminal Defense Trial Lawyer.” Expertise named James Dimeas a “Best Criminal Defense Lawyer in Chicago.” James Dimeas was named a “Best DUI Attorney.” The American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys named James Dimeas a “10 Best Attorney for Client Satisfaction.” Recently, the American Society of Legal Advocates named James Dimeas a “Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyer In the State of Illinois For the Year 2018, 2019, and 2020.” Attorney and Practice Magazine gave James Dimeas the “Top 10 Criminal Defense Attorney Award for Illinois,” and the award for “DUI Defense Top 10.” The National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys gave James Dimeas the “Top 10 Attorney Award for the State of Illinois.” AVVO rates James Dimeas as “Superb,” 10 out of 10, the highest rating possible for any Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery lawyer in the United States.

If you are charged with a Domestic Battery or with Interfering with the Reporting of a Domestic Battery in DuPage County, you can contact James Dimeas anytime for a free and confidential consultation. You can always talk to James Dimeas personally by calling him at 847-807-7405. Help is just a phone call away!