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Dixon County judge sentences Patricia Kelly to 11 months, suspends after 60 days following reckless-endangerment conviction
Summary
After a jury convicted Patricia Denise Kelly of reckless endangerment, Dixon County Circuit Court Judge David D. Wolfe sentenced her to 11 months, 29 days in jail, suspended after 60 days with credit for time served. The court considered victim-impact statements and probation reports in denying judicial diversion.
A Dixon County jury found Patricia Denise Kelly guilty of reckless endangerment, and Judge David D. Wolfe sentenced her to 11 months and 29 days in the county jail, suspended after 60 days with credit for time served.
The sentence followed a victim-impact presentation and a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation department. The victim, through a written statement read in court, said: "What my granny did to me has affected my life in a bad way ... I have permanent nerve damage in my hands." The court accepted the statement into the record and marked it as part of the sentencing material.
Judge Wolfe said he had reviewed the statutory sentencing considerations and the probation officer's report, and he described the child victim as particularly vulnerable because of age and the nature of the injuries. The judge cited photographic evidence and trial testimony showing injury to the child’s wrists and concluded the seriousness of the injury weighed against diversion. He denied the request for judicial diversion and imposed a jail term but suspended most of it after the 60-day minimum.
The probation officer who prepared the pre-sentence report told the court that Kelly scored as a low risk on the department's risk-and-needs assessment but had a history that included prior charges and family instability. A neighbor and family-contact witness told the court Kelly is dependable about property care and had previously helped others by picking up medication for them.
Defense counsel urged mitigating circumstances, including the defendant's history of caring for family and health problems, and noted efforts Kelly had made while in custody. The state urged that the seriousness of the child's injuries and the need for deterrence made confinement appropriate.
Judge Wolfe ordered Kelly to report to the county jail at 4 p.m. on the next business day specified by the court (the court recorded the reporting time as 4 p.m. the coming Monday). The judgment noted credit for time already served toward the imposed sentence.
