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People v. Jordan12/8/2004
Following a bench trial, the court convicted defendant Christopher Jordan of endangering the life and health of a child in violation of section 12-21.6 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (the Code)(720 ILCS 5/12-21.6 (West 2002)). Defendant appeals his conviction, arguing that (1) the State failed to meets its burden of proving that the child's life or health was endangered by defendant's actions and (2) the child endangerment statute under which he was convicted is unconstitutional. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
Shortly after 2 p.m. on February 5, 2003, defendant drove to Truman College to pick up a textbook at the college bookstore. His five-month-old daughter Dominique was in an infant car seat on the backseat of defendant's car. Given that Dominique was sleeping, defendant left Dominique in the car while he went into the college to pick up the book. The bookstore was closed when he got there, so he returned to his car, where he saw fire trucks and police cars surrounding it. In response to a call from college security, the fire department had removed Dominique from the car. Defendant was placed under arrest after identifying himself as her father. He was charged with endangering the life or health of a child and elected to proceed to a bench trial.
Ruben Tate, supervisor of security of Truman College, testified that he was approached by a woman who stated that she saw an infant alone in a car. He found the car at the rear of the parking lot after approximately 10 minutes of searching. The infant was crying. Tate could not get into the car because the doors were locked and the windows were shut, so he had his staff call the fire department. The fire department arrived approximately 10 minutes after he placed the call, and two police cars arrived 10 minutes after that. The fire department got the car open and removed the infant. She was taken to an ambulance and her vital signs were checked. Tate stated that it was 30 minutes or more between the time he arrived at the car and the time the fire department removed the infant. The temperature was below freezing. The infant was dressed in a winter coat, with a hood and gloves, and was covered in a blanket. There was a full bottle in the car.
Officer Robert Hightower testified that he received a call at approximately 2:30 p.m. about a child left alone in a motor vehicle. He arrived at the scene at approximately 2:45 p.m. and found the fire department already there. It took the fire department six to eight minutes to get the infant from the car after Officer Hightower arrived. It was so cold that you could see your breath in the air. Shortly after the infant was moved to the ambulance, defendant approached and identified himself as her father and said he had only been away from the car for five minutes. Officer Hightower stated that he had been there at least 12 minutes prior to defendant's arrival.
Defendant testified that he was gone from the car for approximately six minutes, three minutes to walk to the bookstore and three minutes to return. When defendant arrived at the school, Dominique was asleep. Defendant decided to leave Dominique in the car because it was windy outside. He stated that it was not cold outside and that she was dressed "overly warm," in a full body suit with a hood, gloves and feet, and she was covered with a thick wool blanket. He had parked approximately one-half mile from the door of the school.
At the commencement of its closing argument, the State presented the court with a copy of section 12-21.6(b) of the Code, which states that "[t]here is a rebuttable presumption that a person committed the offense if he or she left a child 6 years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle for more than 10 minutes." 720 ILCS 5/12-21.6(b) (West 2002). The court found
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