By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office has started tracking the outcome of felony domestic violence charges, and on Monday it shared new data that shows the vast majority of those cases have ended with a conviction over the past three months.
Prosecutors say a key to the success is a turn toward evidence-based prosecution, which isn’t as reliant on testimony from the survivor of abuse. Instead, the case is pursued somewhat how investigators may prepare for a murder trial, where putting the victim on the stand isn’t possible and the focus goes toward physical evidence such as hospital records, phone calls and text messages.
Historically in Winnebago County, prosecutors have had greater success trying murders than domestic violence cases, which advocates say are challenging because survivors are often pressured or threatened to recant their statements and protect their abusers.
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Since prosecutors began collecting data in July, they obtained guilty pleas or verdicts in 86% of the 108 cases pursued through September, data provided by State’s Attorney J. Hanley shows. Since tracking the data is new, there is no year-over-year comparison on the rates. However, Hanley said this data would likely show a significant improvement.
Advocates say data collection is an important part in determining what methods are successful. The high success rate sends a message that abusers will be held accountable and survivors will be protected.
“This information in and of itself, our survivors in this community will hear. This will be impactful to them,” said Jennifer Cacciapaglia, the head of the Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention. “If you are a perpetrator of domestic violence in this community, you should be aware that things are changing.”
Evidence-based prosecution isn’t a new concept in the state’s attorney’s office. But Alex Ronning, supervising attorney of the office’s domestic violence unit, said attorneys are using new and creative ways to bring the reality of abusive relationships into the courtroom. Doing so allows for them to show a pattern of violence and threats that sometimes causes survivors to recant.
“We’re able to bring the truth into the courtroom, and when the entire truth is able to brought into the courtroom, the outcomes are much better,” he said.
Thwarting attempts to subvert justice
Ronning provided as example the recent conviction of Kevin Lundgren on charges of aggravated stalking. Lundgren, 25, was found guilty by a jury on Oct. 4 of stalking a mother and her daughter.
However, Ronning said the trial almost ended without testimony from the victim. She had given every indication she would testify, but she didn’t show up the morning of the trial. Ronning said attorneys were prepared with phone records that showed Lundgren was working to convince her not to testify.
She eventually did appear in the afternoon, and spoke in defense of Lundgren. But again, Ronning said, prosecutors were prepared with evidence that showed the contrary.
“At every step of the way, our unit was able to thwart the attempts the defendant was making to subvert the judicial process,” Ronning said. “We’re able to meet the force presented by the defendants with regard to their victims with equal and greater force, and that’s leveraging positive outcomes.”
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He said cases like this would have likely resulted in a dismissal a few years ago, but the office is having greater success now. For example, there was just one conviction for stalking from 2020 to 2021, Ronning said. Last year, there were 19 such convictions, and there have been 17 so far this year.
“That’s hope for survivors and that’s justice for our community,” Mayor Tom McNamara said of the conviction rates.
McNamara, along with Ronning, Hanley and Cacciapaglia, delivered their remarks during a news conference in the state’s attorney’s offices at the Winnebago County Courthouse.
Focusing on domestic violence
Domestic violence has been one of the primary public safety focuses of McNamara’s administration because of its prevalence in the community. So far this year, 42% of the city’s violent crime stems from domestic violence.
McNamara said prosecutors are a significant piece to reducing domestic violence in the community, and the high conviction rates are an important piece.
“A huge piece is the state’s attorney because now these cowards know that they’re going to have consequences,” McNamara said.
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Hanley said that this past weekend 10 of the 16 people booked into the county jail were arrested on domestic violence charges.
On Monday, those defendants arrived at first-appearance court for a judge to determine whether they would be detained until their trial.
The state’s attorney’s office requested for nine of the 10 defendants to be held in jail. The judge agreed to that request in four cases and released three other defendants. Two hearings are slated to happen Tuesday.
What’s next
Hanley said tracking the data was challenging because of the high volume of domestic violence cases and the lack of a staff member dedicated to data. That’s part of the reason why they haven’t incorporated misdemeanor cases, which would have lower conviction rates, into the data so far.
Hanley said his office has five attorneys dedicated to domestic violence court, which rivals courtrooms handling driving under the influence cases for the busiest calls on the docket.
He hopes to add a sixth attorney to that team.
By the numbers | domestic violence
July: 25 convictions; 31 dispositions. 81% conviction rate.
August: 37 convictions, 42 dispositions. 88% conviction rate.
September: 31 convictions, 35 dispositions. 88% conviction rate.
*Note: Data excludes cases that were dismissed because of guilty pleas to other charges.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas