12/21/2022
Yesterday was Corinne's sentencing hearing. After years of work from a small group of activists, the State's attorney and members of local fire and police agencies (she was arrested on Christmas Eve 2019), we finally have a sentence.
We have already seen that many folks aren't happy with the sentence. We are choosing to celebrate the small victories, and want to explain why parts of her sentence are very important.
First, for her sentence:
-Corinne has been sentenced to 18 months of reporting probation [that means supervised probation].
- While on probation, she cannot violate the law. She has to report to her probation officer on a regular basis. She must permit the probation officer to visit her home as requested. You can view the full terms of the probation on judici
Judici Link: https://judici.com/courts/cases/case_information.jsp?court=IL038025J&ocl=IL038025J,2019CF166,IL038025JL2019CF166D1
-She is not to own or possess any animals.
- She must serve 30 hours of community service.
- She must pay a $500 fine, payable within the next 12 months. She must pay $450 in court costs. She also has to pay $25 a month for the 18 months of her probation.
-She has the right to appeal her decision and must do so within the next 30 days. If she chooses to do that, she must have a sufficient reason to appeal. There would be a new trial, and all deals made as a function of the Alford plea would be off the table.
-As of today, she has been assigned a probation officer.
Finally, the most impactful portion of her sentence:
- Corinne accepted an Alford plea on 8-31-22 for Misdemeanor of Cruel Treatment of Animals in lieu of a bench trial. There is a statute that indicates that Cruel Treatment of Animals is a non-expungable offense. This means that this charge can NEVER be expunged from her permanent record or have the records sealed. The cruel treatment to animals, charge and sentence will remain in her record forever. Her conviction will be visible to anyone that does a background check on her.
It is still very difficult to get animal cruelty charges to stick in cases, and even harder in rural counties, where folks rely heavily on farming. In a place like Iroquois County, this sentence is a victory. It can also be a stepping stone for future cases.
As a final note we are including a link to the statement Corinne submitted to the court on her own behalf, at the 11-21-22 sentencing hearing which is a matter of public record."
Statement Link:
bit.ly/characterletter
Thank you again to everyone who has followed and supported this case for 3 years. It’s taken a very long time to get where we are.
We will be updating the main file that covers all of the case history shortly. This post is the most current information at this time.
Please see the history of the case including media coverage here:
http://bit.ly/EARTHOutlineOfInfo
