Domestic violence cases – once ‘a huge blind spot’ – now show high conviction rates in Winnebago County

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — In its first full year of tracking data, the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office shows more than three-quarters of the felony domestic violence cases it handles have ended with successful prosecution.

Prosecutors and advocates for domestic violence survivors say the 81% success rate is indicative of the office’s focus on proving charges that have been notoriously difficult to prosecute.

“This was a huge blind spot in an area where everybody — prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and defendants — all knew that there was a low success rate in the domestic violence courtroom,” said Alex Ronning, supervising attorney of the office’s domestic violence unit. “People beat cases with regularity, maybe even greater regularity than they were held accountable for those cases.”

The office began tracking felony domestic violence cases in July 2023 as part of an effort to evaluate performance and communicate to the public that it is making the crime a focal point.

In the 13 full months since, 508 of 626 cases led to a domestic-violence related conviction, including cases that resulted in a guilty plea to a misdemeanor. That number doesn’t include about 120 cases that were dismissed due to a plea to other criminal charges. The office obtained guilty verdicts in all five cases taken to trial this year and 10 of 11 trials since it started tracking data. There were also nearly 30 convictions for stalking.

“We’re holding defendants accountable and we’re earning the trust of survivors,” Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said. “That’s what this data shows and what the community can really take to heart.”

Prosecutors say the key for success is a dedication to collecting as much physical evidence as possible up front and continuing to investigate the case as it proceeds to trial. That way, the case isn’t reliant on testimony that pits one person’s word against another’s. It also gives the case strength when a victim stops participating in the prosecution — something that can happen due to fear, coercion, a change of heart or a host of other dynamics in domestic relationships.

“In this courtroom, more than any other courtroom, did it happen is the question,” Ronning said. “What victims are burdened by with these cases is this constant barrage from the defendant and society that it didn’t really happen like that or you’re making it up — this gas lighting.”

Prosecutors in the domestic violence court build their cases similar to how investigators may prepare for a murder trial, where putting the victim on the stand isn’t possible. That puts the focus on hospital records, video, phone calls, text messages and other physical evidence.

“All throughout law enforcement … they’re taking domestic violence seriously,” Ronning said. “They’re following up with other individuals in the orbit of the violence that’s occurring, they’re looking at other evidence, they’re more thoroughly investigated.”

Jennifer Cacciapaglia, who leads the Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention, said the high conviction rate is key in giving domestic violence survivors the confidence to come forward. Survivors often avoid the legal system for fear it will anger their abuser and not result in justice.

“The fact that we are even tracking the data in a sustained way to look for patterns and to look for trends is a huge win for our community,” Cacciapaglia said. “If we are going to be data-driven and survivor centered, we have to have the data. For the first time we have a state’s attorney who is really focusing on monitoring that and improving their own response to this issue.”

Domestic violence accounted for roughly 44% of all violent crime in Rockford last year. That was up from 38% in 2022, according to year-end Rockford police statistics.

Curtailing domestic violence has become a focal point for agencies across the city and county, Caccipaglia said. That includes UW Health SwedishAmerican adding specially trained staff to its emergency department to offer support to patients whose injuries stem from suspected domestic violence.

Rockford police have also dedicated resources to the city’s Lethality Prevention Division, which is centered around preventing domestic violence homicide. The Rockford Fire Department has also provided increased training to help firefighters and EMTs respond to instances of domestic violence, Cacciapaglia said.

“We are in the middle of a movement in Rockford, Illinois, and Winnebago County that continue to gain momentum,” she said. “We’re heading in the right direction.”

The state’s attorney’s office has also added a full-time investigator dedicated to its domestic violence unit. That’s in addition to four attorneys, including a licensed law school student, who practice in the division.

“The investigation doesn’t end when the case is charged,” Ronning said. “Our office takes the baton from law enforcement and continues to investigate through each court date.”

Long-term, the hope is that higher conviction rates reduce instances of domestic violence. That can happen through court-mandated interventions meant to address the underlying causes of abuse, or prison time. Hanley said his office sees instances “serial batterers” who go from relationship to relationship.

“For an important but relatively small population of offender, holding them accountable in prison and removing them from society is also significant and can have a real positive effect,” Hanley said.

Cacciapaglia said the office’s data collection is an important part of being able to deploy successful strategies in real time.

“We don’t have time to wait. We don’t have time for what I like to call observational privilege,” she said. “We cannot take time systemizing, and systemizing and systemizing for assurances. We know what our community needs. Our community knows what our community needs. It’s time to deploy, get to work, hit the streets, evaluate, pivot and keep going.”

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