You are on page 1of 43

STATE OF ILLINOIS )

) SS:
COUNTY OF L A K E )

BEFORE THE CORONER OF LAKE COUNTY

IN THE MATTER OF THE )


1
INQUEST ON THE BODY OF 1
1
CHRISTINA J. PRATT, 1
1
Deceased. )

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS had before

James Wipper, Chief Deputy Coroner for the County o f

Lake and State of Illinois, on October 29, 1992,

A.D., at the Lake County Building, Tenth Floor

Assembly Room, Waukegan, Illinois, commencing at the

hour of 11:50 o'clock a.m., pursuant to notice.

JURORS :

Robert A. Vinnedge
Sharon 0 . Ahlemeyer
Joseph J. Contrera
Dean J. Jordan
Sandra J. Niemietz
Alvera M. Shelton

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAM, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Ladies and

gentlemen of the jury, witnesses, and others present,

this is an inquest into the manner and cause of death

of Christina J. Pratt, age 18, late of 17479 Dartmoor

Avenue, Grayslake, Illinois, who was the victim/driver

of a single-vehicular incident that occurred on

September 7th, 1992, at 12:45 a.m. on Route 43 at

intersection with Route 41 in Park City, Lake County,

Illinois. The victim was transported to St. Therese

Medical Center, Waukegan, in Lake County, ~ l l i n o i s ,

where she was pronounced dead in the emergency room a t

1:57 a.m. on September 7th, 1992, by Dr. Savage,

emergency room physician. The victim was then

transported to the Lake County Coroner's Facility,

Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, for further

examination.

I'm going to ask the following people to

please stand where they are and ra.ise their right hand.

James Leding and Roger Barrette.

(Witnesses sworn. 1

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: I'm going to ask

Officer Leding to step forward and please have a seat

to my left.

For the benefit of the jury, a diagram

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL (708) 623-7580


has been passed out for your reference.

I'm also going to ask if there are any

family members to please remain seated and identify

yourself.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: I'm Carol Spizzirri. I am t.he

mother of Christina.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: All right.

MR. PRATT: I'm Gordon Pratt and I am

Christina's father.

I THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Are there any

attorneys present? If so --

MR. GARRIGAN: Yes. Counsel for Mrs.

Spizzirri, Michael S. Garrigan, G-a-r-r-i-g-a-n

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Thank you very

much.

Let me remind you that this is neither a

civil nor a criminal trial procedure, merely an inquest

into the manner and cause of the death of this young

woman.

J A M E S L E D I N G ,

called as a witness herein by the Coroner, having heen

first duly sworn, took the stand and testified as

follows, to-wit:

3
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL (708) 623-7580
1 E X A M l N A T l O M
-

2 by the Chief Deputy Coroner:

3 Q. Would you please state your name, age, and

4 occupation, please.

5 A. Yes. My name is James Leding, L-e-d-i-n-g, 30

6 years old. I am a patrolman for the City of Park City.

7 Q. Officer Leding, did you and members of the

8 Park City Police Department investigate a

9 single-vehicular incident that occurred on September

10 7th, 1992, at 12:45 a.m. on Route 43 at intersection

11 with Route 41 in Park City, Lake County, Illinois?

12 A. Yes, I did.

Q. Would you please tell the ladies and gentlemen

of the jury what your investi.gation disclosed.

A. Upon our arrival we found one single female

white victim from this accident, She was laying in the

northbound lanes of Route 41 right at the merge' from

Route 43. We requested a rescue for her and I began

the accident investigation.

We viewed the scene and what appeared

happened was the vehicle was traveling northbound on

Route 43, right tires went up onto the raised curbing

on the right side of the - - right side of the road

right at the merge, at which time the vehicle came

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


down, crossed over the merging lane onto the gravel

section. After this had occurred the vehicle went into

a broad slide and began to roll.

52. Officer, I'm going to stop you for one second,

The jurors have a copy of the diagram. Could you

possibly refer to it? Because I see you've got some

letters there,

A. Sure.

Q. That might be of help to the jury.

A. Okay. What I am referring to, when the

vehicle went up onto the curbing would be letters "A"

and "B" on the right-hand side of the diagram. The

vehicle then crossed over the merging lane to letters

"D" and "C" where it went off the road and began to go

into a broad slide where it ended at Point G . The

vehicle then began to roll. The first mark of the roll

would be letter "H."

From what we believe the vehicle rolled

at least two to three times during whi-ch time we

believe the victim was ejected from the vehicle where

she came to rest on the roadway and the vehicle t,hen

continued off onto the grassy center median.

Q. From the -- maybe if I could clarify this a

little bit for the jury. The vehicle was traveling

5
L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL (708) 623-7580
northboun.d, went off on the right-hand side, "A" and

l1B"?

A. Correct.

Q- Then crossed back over to "C" and "D"?

A. Correct.

Q. Okay. Can you tell us approximately from,

let's say, distance - - the length of distance from "A"

t.o "S"? Is that -- "S" would be the final resting spot

of the vehicle?

A. Correct. If -- it would be approximately 4 0 0

feet.

Q. Okay. In your -- through your

investigation -- I don't know if this would be

pertaining to you or maybe Deputy Barrette, but during

your investigation were you able to determine an

approximate speed?

A. NO, we were not.

Q. Okay. Okay. You can continue then.

A. Excuse me. We then began the investigation of

the vehicle, normal search to make sure there were no

other victims in the vehicle, which there were not. We

noted at the time that there was an extremely strong

odor of an alcoholic beverage inside the vehicle. We

also noticed there were several unopened beer cans

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L (708) 6 2 3 - 7 5 8 0


inside the vehicle and an empty case along the same

brand of beer of the cans that were in the vehicle.

Also, the stereo in the vehicle was turned up almost to

full volume. I myself had to turn it off to hear when

I initially got to the scene.

After that we photographed and measured

the scene, went to St. Therese Hospital, and we spoke

to the doctor on duty who advised us that she had been

pronounced dead at St. Therese Hospital from major

internal injuries and head injuries.

Q. Basicall,y, at the time -- at the time you

arrived -- first of all, how did you get the initial

call? How was your department notified?

A. We were notified by telephone. I'm not sure

exactly who the caller was. We were advised of an

accident with unknown injuries on northbound Route 41

in front of Marquardt Olds, which is the same general

vicinity .

Q. Okay, Were you able to speak with any

witnesses to the accident?

A. There was one subject who was on the scene.

He stated t h a t . h e did not see the entire accident. All

he did was saw the vehicle come to rest. and he found

the victim on the roadway. He saw the vehicle rolling

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


to a stop into the grassy median and found the person

on the roadway.

Q. Did he state to you where he was coming from?

What direction?

A. No, he did not.

Q. Okay. When you arrived, was he the only

individual on the scene or were there others?

A. There were numerous other motorists that had

seen the body on the roadway and had stopped to offer

assistance. There was one other subject who stated to

me that he did witness the accident, but prior to my

being able to talk to him, he did leave the scene. He

never gave a name or anything like that or a vehicle

description.

Q. Okay. So at this point in time, you did not

actually talk to a witness who basically saw the entire

accident?

A. Correct.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: I'm going to excuse

you for the time being. If you can remain seated here.

Let me ask Deputy Barrette to step forward.

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, 11, ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


R O G E R B A R R E T T E ,

called as a witness herein by the Coroner, having been

first duly sworn, took the stand and testified as

follows, to-wit:

E
- X A M L N A T L O N
by the Chief Deputy Coroner:

Q. If you could please state your name, age, and

occupation, please.

A. Yes. Roger Barrette, age 3 0 , deputy sheriff

with Lake County Sheriff's Department.

&. Mr. Barrette, were you and the Lake County

Sheriff's Office involved in an investigation regarding

a single-vehicular incident that occurred on

September 7th, 1992 at 12:45 a.m. on Route 43 at

intersection with Route 41 in Park City, Lake County,

Illinois?

A. Yes, we were.

Q. For the benefit of the ladies and gentlemen of

the jury, could you please advise them what your

investigation disclosed.

A. Yes. 1 was mainly called to the scene to

assist Officer Leding in this accident. I got there.

I spoke to Officer Leding. He went through the

accident scene with me and asked if 1 would phot-ograph

L&L REPORTING S E R V I C E W A U K E G A M , IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


it. My main concern was that to photograph the

accident, which I did do while Officer Leding performed

his investigation.

Once that was completed Officer Leding

then came up to me and told me his opinion on how the

accident happened, which has been related to you, and

it was - - it was also consistent with the facts on

the -- that were left on the road; that this is the way

the accident happened. And it was about that time that

I then went to St. Therese Hospital, also.

Q. Okay. Basically, from -- as Officer Leding

had testified, the vehicle from the time it left the

roadway until the time it came to rest traveled

approximately 400 feet. Would you concur with that?

A. Yes.

&. Okay. And in your background, is it possible

to give an estimate of a possible speed at that time?

A. Yes, it is.

Q. Okay. Do you have any opinions based upon the

physical evidence on the speed that the vehicle may

have been traveling prior to the accident?

A. Such an opinion would require that I do an

accident reconstruction in this and which I did not do.

However, based on my experience I would not say that it

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAIJKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


would be in the realm of a high rate of speed; that it

would be consistent with a 50, 55 miles an hour speed

on her part.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. Maybe if 1

could refer this to Officer Leding. What was the speed

limit in that area?

OFFICER LEDING: That I'm not sure. We did

mark it down in the field notes. I'm not sure if it

was transferred over to the original report. It is

marked as a slower area because of the merge.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. Would that

be -- Deputy Barrette feels that the speed of the


vehicle may have been 50 to 55. Do you feel that that

merge would have been a lesser speed?

OFFICER LEDING: Yes, I do.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. Officer

Leding, also, could you tell us what the weather and

road conditions were at that time?

OFFICER LEDING: If I could refer to my

accident report for a moment.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Yes.

OFFICER LEDING: It was clear and dry at this

time. The roadway surface was dry. The weather was

clear. Nothing that would -- there was no materials on

11
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, T L (7081 623-7580
the roadway that would be a detriment. to driving at the

time.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. Ladies and

gentlemen of the jury, do you have any questions of

these witnesses?

A JUROR: Does anybody know where she was

coming from?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: Yes. We did a background,

I spoke to several witnesses in regards to this. The

evening, as far as we could trace it back, started

around 8:00, 8 : 3 0 that evening when she met with a

bunch of friends in Gurnee. From there she went back

to her house with her friends. She was alone at the

house at this time. Her mother and other children

which she lived with had gone on vacation in Florida.

While there they -- I believe they had a

party where they did consume alcohol. This was

evidenced by open beer cans, bagfuls of beer cans,

other stuff like munchies, box cases, and stuff that

were all stacked on the back deck of the house as well

as a stereo that was out in the deck. So there was

evidence that there had been some type of a party.

Whether it's large or small, I don't know.

At approximately a little before midnight

12
L&L R E P O R T I N G S E R V I C E WAUKEGAN, IL (708) 623-7580
the party or the people departed the house and went to

the Avalon restaurant. They all sat down. They were

given menus, and it was about quarter after midnight

then Christina stood up and said to the -- said to her

friends I'm going to go out for a drive. She then got

up, went into her car, and that was the last they seen

her, and the accident happened approximately half hour

later.

I believe she told her friends, also,

that she was going to be back in about a half hour,

which is possibly where she may have been heading to at

the time. I believe -- I've learned through talking to

some people that she had just started to -- was able to

start driving this vehicle legally, and I would say it

wouldn't be out of the realm that she was just driving

around maybe just to be driving around enjoying the

night, enjoying music, everything else like that. I

don't think she had a specific destination in mind and

none that our investigation revealed either.

A JUROR: Is that intersection lighted?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: D o you want to answer?

OFFICER LEDING: No, it's not. It's just a

simple merge.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: What would have

13
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7589
it have been heavy traffic or do you know?

I OFFICER LEDING: At that -- usually at that

time on a Sunday night it's usually medium traffic.

It's not real heavy; it's not real light. You get

mainly the travelers are heading home from the weekend,

heading either back into Milwaukee or the Wisconsin

area or heading back into Chicago, in that area.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: This w a s like a

Sunday night/Monday morning type thing?

OFFICER LEDING: Correct.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: I have some pictures if

you'd like to distribute them.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Sure.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, do you

have any other questions?

(No response.)

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: I'll excuse the two

of you. If you'd please remain in the room in case

there are any further questions.

I have one further question before you

leave. Officer Leding testified to the fact in his

I opinion he believes that based upon his investigation

/ the vehicle rolled approximately two to three times.

I I

L & L REPOR.TIMG SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


Do you concur with that? Do you have any different

opinions, Deputy Barrette?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: No. That would be

consistent with that. That's about the rate the

vehicle will roll is about that many times. I have no

problem with that.

A JUROR: Can I ask a question? I see a mark

here on the road in your picture. Would that be one of

the roll marks of the car?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: That mark was caused by the

vehicle. When it started to come onto the road from

the ditch, it started to travel broadside. While it

started to travel broadside, the tire is still

rotating. As well as rotating, it's starting to also

side slip. When it does that, it leaves those

customary marks in the roadway. Right about where they

end then is the -- is the point then where the vehicle

probably was tripped up and started its roll.

A JUROR: Okay. Thank you. And that would

correspond with his mark then on his map at what point?

OFFICER LEDING: "E," the letter "E."

A JUROR: Those are what those little lines

indicate?

OFFICER LEDING: Correct.

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGRN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


A JUROR: Okay.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. I'll excuse

you for the time being. Thank you.

I will then give the Coroner's report.

On September 7th at 2:18 a.m. I was notified by St.

Therese Hospital of the death of Christina Pratt in

their emergency room. I arrived at three o'clock a.m.

and was met by Officer Leding and Deputy Barrette who

basically related to me the circumstances they have

related to you.

Part of our investigation was to do a

toxicological analysis. Prior to that as during

treatment in the hospital, a blood alcohol level was

performed by St. Therese Hospital, and their testing

shows that at the time that Christina was in the

emergency room she had a blood al.coho1 of a -176

percent.

We did some further testing on specimens

that we obtained and we tested for ethanol,

barbiturates, stimulants, and for tranquilizers, and w e

found that during our testing Christina had a blood

alcohol of .I63 percent. The difference i n those

levels would be from the treatment that she received

being J V fluids, blood transfusion, things of that

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


nature, which would tend to dilu.te her blood and cause

us to get a lower blood alcohol level.

In the State of Illinois, the legal limit

of intoxication for a driver in the state is .I00

percent. At the time of the accident Christina was

legally intoxicated.

During my examination I found that she

sustained a lot of damage to the Left side,

particularly her upper shoulder area, upper a r m ,

forearm area. She sustained a very extensive injury to

that portion of her body. She also sustained a

depressed skull fracture to the back part of her head,

Due to these injuries it is the opinion of the Lake

County Coroner's Office that Christina came to her

death as a result of multiple traumatic injuries due to

blunt force trauma due to the single vehicle roll-over.

It is hard to - - during the investi.gation

it was found that Christina was not wearing a seat

belt, and due to the vehicle rolling over it's hard to

determice exactly how her injuries came about. At. what

point did she come out of the vehicle, it's difficult

to determine that.

But we have some factors fl~rethat, she

had had the vehicle for about a week so she was

17
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAIJKEGAN, JL (708) 623-7580
somewhat unfamiliar with the vehicle. She had a blood

alcohol level. As Officer Ledi-ng testified, that the

radio was, you know, very l.oud. So we can't rule out

the fact that she may have been trying to adjust the

radio in some way. At this point because there are no

witnesses we cannot rule out that possibly an animal.

could have been involved. So there are some things

that unfortunately without any clear-cut witnesses that

we'll never have answers to.

Do the ladies and gentlemen of the jury

have any questions?

(No response.)

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Mrs. Spizzirri or

PIr. Garrigan, do you have anything?

MR. GARRIGAN: I have a question for Qfficer

Barrette. TS there anything based on your

investigation which would rule out - - categoricall-y

rule out the possibility of M i s ; Pratt hitting another

car, a collision with another car?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: Yes. Yes, there ii .

MR. GARRIGAN: What is that?

DEPUTY BARRETTE: It's clear-cut that no other

impact occurred with another vehicle. If an impact

would have occurred with another vehicle, w e w u u i d

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL (708) 623-7580


expect different areas of damage, and the areas of

damage that we looked at on the vehicle was the right

front sustained some damage. That was primarily the

only area that sustained any damage.

This damage was very consistent with a

vehicle roll-over, and since the vehicle was first

tripped up led by the driver's side, a vehicle doesn't

roll. nicely as a pencil or something round. A vehicle

is tripped up so it would go into the air and most

likely land on the driver's side. When it landed on

the driver's side, it did this damage to the roof and

to the vehicle.

The direction of force was examined under

this area, and it showed that it would be consistent

with a downward type of a force being exerted on the

vehicle whereas if Christina would have struck another

vehicle we would expect then a force to be applied

rearward on this vehicle. There was no force component

that was observed in the damage result that would

support that kind of a force being exerted. Therefore,

it was ruled out then that she struck anything else.

Also, the marks that we observed on the

west shoulder of the road, being the yaw mark into the

gravel, was consistent with a vehicle that is basically

L & L REPORTING S E R V I C E W A U K E G A N , IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


broad sliding and is going into a yaw. So i t is

possible that she could have struck another vehicle and

rotated around like that, but what we would expect then

would not be a yaw mark. We would expect more of a

mark that we would refer to as radius gyration; in

other words, that that vehicle is now rotating around

the damage centroid of where it hit another vehicle.

So its radius would be a lot, lot sharper.

This was not a sharp radius. This was

very gradual and pretty straight, straightforward. So

anything along that line would be ruled out about

anything of her striking another vehicle either from

the front and again there was no damage observed in the

back so we know she wasn't rear ended or pushed off the

road.

MR. GARRIGAN: Officer Leding, at the time of

the accident, did you speak to any witnesses at that

time who basically observed another damaged car; more

specifically, a black Cadillac with driver's side

damage?

O F F I C E R LEDING: No, I did not.

MR. GARRIGAN: I have no further questions.

MS. SPIZZJRRI: I would like to ask Officer

Leding about the truck that was there with the

Ll&L R E P O R T I N G S E R V I C E WAUREGAM, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


spotlight.

OFFICER LEDING: Yes, ma'am.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: Yes. What about the truck

that was there that had two people in it that swear

that there was a truck there that left the scene?

OFFICER LEDING: Yes, ma'am. There was a

pickup truck from another subject who had stopped to

assist. Correct.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: I would like t o know why he

didn't question this gentleman because he had been

there for some time. Even at the time that the

ambulance was taking my daughter, he -- that truck was

still there.

OFFICER LEDING: Yes, ma'am. If you remember

my testimony, I did speak with one subject who was

there. That was the subject who saw the vehicle coming

to a rest in the grassy median that did not see the

complete accident.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: No, sir. You had said that

the person that assisted -- that came up, that person

i.s from Kenosha, and he assisted in Christina's first

aid treatment, and you didn't even ask him any

questions, Why didn't you ask him questions? A l l you

told him was leave her alone; she's dead anyhow. That

21
L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAM, i L (708) 623-7580
is what - - that's what he said.

OFFICER LEDING: No, ma'am. Ma'am, I spoke to

him. He was the witness that told me that he did not

see the complete accident.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: That.'s correct,

OFFICER LEDING: That he saw the vehicle

rolling to a stop and saw the victim laying in the

road.way.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: That is correct. Bu.t he did

not have a pickup truck. The truck that I am t.alking

about was up the road a bit, and this gentleman that

came out of that truck had a spotlight which was

witnessed by the man who gave Christina first aid from

Kenosha and also a gentleman who lives across the

street who witnessed the accident and who had called

your department on a couple occasions and nobody

asked - - asked him to come in and give any testiwr1on.y.

I'd like to know why all the witnesses that were at the

scene were not questioned, not one, even when they came

to you and assisted - - wanted to give you some

information.

OFFICER. LEDING: Ma'am, I can't testify on

what I don't remember,

1 DEPUTY BARRETTE: If you will, when I gat

22
Lj&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUREGAN, IL (708) 623-7580
there, there was basically, I think, three people

there. A gentleman in an 18-wheeler who had parked

down the road, there was a black gentleman there who

was in the pickup truck, and there was the white

gentleman who was in another smaller vehicle, These

were the three people that were present. A l l three of

them were spoken to.

The gentleman in the 18-wheeler was - - I

believe had a flashlight in his hand. Me was parked up

the road. He said he did not witness the accident. He

came much more time after everybody else. The other

two people had arrived there and basically blocked the

road for the victim who was laying in the road. The

other two witnesses there heard him state this

conversation that occurred. The gentleman and the semi

truck was then released.

The gentleman who was the first one there

who rendered first aid to the victim we did get his

name and his name is in the report. We did speak to

him. That is the gentleman that did not witness the

accident but seen the accident go into the -- into the

ditch. The black gentleman, he said he came after - -

after the white guy and he did not see the accident at

all. All three of these people were spoken to at the

23
L&L REPORTING S E R V I C E WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580
scene.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: At the time that I spoke with

the witness that administered first aid to Christina at

the scene, he had witnessed a truck and another vehicle

ahead of him. That's why he stopped because he didn't

know what had happened and he came closing up on these

vehicles that had stopped. He said at the time he came

up to Christina's body or her other -- her being on the

road there were at least five to six people standing

there around her, and he started administering first

aid to her.

I asked him when he did - - when did

Officer Leding get there, and he had indicated that it

was several minutes before he had gotten there, and I

said, well, what did he do at the time he had gotten

there, and he said he stood there and he waited until

the ambulance came. And I said did he help you in

assisting in first aid. He said no, in fact, what he

told me to do is step back away from the body; she's

dead anyway. And he said that he had told you -- a n d

he'll swear to it -- that as long as this child has a

heartbeat, a pulse, and she's breathing normally

there's always hope. And you said you have seen enough

accidents to realize that she would be dead anyway. He

L&L REPORTING S E R - V I C E WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


continued his first aid treatment.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: That is not what he related

to us at the scene. He related to us at the scene that

he was pretty much the first one there. He said he

rolled the victim over, saw that she was breathing, and

he did not supply her with m0ut.h to mouth nor did he

supply her with CPR, but basically left her on her side

and comforted her at that point.

No first aid was issued by myself or

Officer Leding as we are not trained nor certified in

first aid. Anything that we may do to that person to

render first aid may be more harmful than it would be

good. As such, we leave that to the professionals who

respond to the field and render the first aid. So it

then becomes not our responsibility of rendering first

aid.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: That's correct.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: I don't believe that Officer

Leding nor did myself ever tell this person that we

believed this person is dead because we viewed a lot of

accidents. I just think that something --

MS. SPIZZIRRI: He did not indicate you. He

indicated Officer Leding, who was the first person on

the scene prior to you coming to the scene. That is

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAIJKEGAN, T L (708) 6 2 3 - 7 5 8 0


what he had indicated. He also said that Christina had

stopped breathing momentarily. He stuck his two

fingers down her throat to clear out the passage, and

at that time the blood started coming from her mouth.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: Yes, and likewise --

MS. SPIZZIRRI: And she started breathing on

her own again.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: Then again, she could have

died. She could have aspirated on her own blood. That

could have been more harmful than good.


$

MS. SPIZZIRRI: At the time the paramedics got

to her, she was still breathing on her own. Not until

en route to the hospital did she have a --


DEPUTY BARRETTE: It is apparent that anything

we did at the scene or anything that this witness may

have done at the scene was helpful for her. There

wasn't nothing more I could have done or Officer Leding

could have done or anybody else could have done.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: I'm directing this basically

to Officer Leding. I want to know why he did what he

did and told this witness that he should let her alone.

I also would like to know why the Lake

County - - I'm of the understanding that Lake County

Sheriff's Department have been trained in first aid and

L&L REPORTING S E R - V I C E WRUKEGAN, J L (708) 6 2 3 - 7 5 8 0


in Park City have been trained in first aid. Some sort

of pressure applied to the areas that she was bleeding

profusely on her arm would have caused some stoppage of

flow of the blood that she could have used for the rest

of her body. If you are bleeding from two areas, say

if you have a pressure point to stop the flow of blood

at another pressure point, you are bleeding to death

basically.

I don't think that much care was given to

the patient. I think more care was contributed to the

open cans of alcohol which 3 checked out myself. Yes,

I agree the car did reek of alcohol, but I also under

my investigation noticed that the cans of beer that

were unopened in the car were punctured which would

have released the alcohol beverage into the car and the

car floor.

I also noted a lot of other things as to

how her arm could have been torn because the car window

had not been totally down and the glass was still

halfway up into the grooves of the window, So I could

understand how that - - I do have nursing background. I

can handle a lot of things like this, and even though

it's my daughter, I still have my faculties.

As a stander-by and officer of -- that

LI&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L (7081 623-7580


does t-his type of -- or supposed to be doing this type
of procedure not to offer a person who is on his way

home from Illinois some assistance and support, I can't

understand that, though.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: By the same token, ma'am, I

have a question for you. Why is it that your

18-year-old daughter was driving around with twice the

legal intoxication limit while you're in Florida and

having a party at. her house?

MR. GARRIGAN: I object to the question.

That's beyond the scope. That's personal. That's not

called for. Come on.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Let me get to the

issue here. Officer Leding, are you trained as a

paramedic or EMT?

OFFICER LEDING: No, I am not.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Do you have -- are


you certified in any type of first aid at all?

OFFICER LEDING: No, I am not.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. I think that

would answer that question.

Now, as far as the witness, we're taking

someone's statement to you, Mrs. Spizzirri, and he also

made a statement to the police officers, and obviously,

LI&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, 11-1 ( 7 0 8 ) 6 2 3 - 7 5 8 0


we are looking at two different statements. Now, that

witness is not here to make that statement. In the

course of invest-igation things can be changed. People

say things to different people because - - whether or

not they intend them or whatever. I have found that

very common during, you know, my years of experience in

investigating situations like this.

Now, whether or not, you know, what he

told the police officers or what he told you, it's hard

to say, you know, which story is true. You know, if

anything was - - you know, did he inflate any of the

testimony? It's hard to say. But both officers have

testified that they did speak with this wi.tness, and

his name is on the report. Now, why, you know, what he

told you and what he told the police officers, you

know, I can't -- you know, we can't, you know, say, you

know, actually which is true or what was actually said-

So I have to treat that a s hearsay, you know, right

now.

MS. SPIZZIRRI: I would like to answer this

officer from Lake County who asked me why I was in

Florida while my daughter was driving around with

alcohol in her. As a parent, as -- I don't know if any

of you are, but I have two other daughters, and I think

29
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580
I have the right once i.n ten years to go with my other

daughters to Florida. And my other daughter,

Christina, had to work and go to school, and that is

the reason I was separated from her. If that answers

your question. I hope it never happens to you.

DEPUTY BARRETTE: No, it doesn't answer my

question. I hope it doesn't happen to me either.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: I'm going to now

excuse the questions by Mr. Garrigan and Mrs. Spizzirri

and I'm going to give Mr. Pratt an opportunity -- do

you have any questions, sir, or - -

MR. PRATT: Yes, sir. I think I can clarify

quite a few misconceptions here that are being stated,

and first off, I'd like to tell the jury that I'm very

impressed with the way Lake County afficials have taken

care of the whole situation. I am her father, and I

have had all police reports. I've done my own

investigation like any father or family member would

do, and I am completely 100 percent satisfied with

everybody's actions involved here.

And I would also like to state because

I'm from Wisconsin and I had the misconception as

probably most Wisconsinite people do that they think

( that people from Illinois are all cold and calloused

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, I L (708) 623-7580


and non-caring. I found the complete opposite with

everybody down here. Every official has been kind,

courteous, and professional, and I was very impressed

with everybody down here.

And in getting to -- in getting to

Officer Roger Barrette's question, it is a very good

question. It is a legitimate question, and I have much

evidence to present that Mr. Roger - - Officer Roger

Barrette of the Lake County Sheriff's Department had

all the right in the world to ask Mrs. Spizzirri the

question what was she doing in Florida with the rest of

her family when she had a child that just turned 18 and

was given free run of the home, whom was told by me --

and it is 100 percent documented and i,t is documented

with a transcript -- a transcript -- excuse me - - a n d a

tape that I have furnished to coroner - - Mr. Wipper,

and he had -- that was a transcript and a tape of

incoming calls to my phone number on the night my

daughter died.

I had Officer Roger Barrette call me, I

had a family friend call me, and Milwaukee Police

Department called me. And why it was recorded is

because I have an answering machine at my place, and on

that particular night I didn't get up when the phone

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAM, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


rang because my answering machine is set at night --

sometimes I set it that it answers my phone either

within one ring or two so that I am not bothered with

getting up. And that is why I -- I had a tape of that

complete conversation and the incoming calls to me.

See, that would -- that tape can always be viewed by - -

that is in the file, right, Mr. Wipper?

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: That's-correct,

Let me just clarify Mr. Pratt's statement. After the

death occurred I met with Officer Barrette and Officer

Leding at the emergency room. One of our jobs -- one

of our tasks at that point is to try to notify the next

of kin.

We had no family members at the hospital

at that time. We were able to track down a neighbor of

Christina Pratt who gave us the information that Mrs.

Spizzirri was on vacation in Florida, but could not

furnish us with an address or telephone number. But

she was able to provide us with Mr. Pratt's phone

number in Milwaukee so Mr. Pratt was actually the first

relative that we could notify, and in fact, we had

Milwaukee police go to his residence to notify him in

person; and even prior to the police coming to his

door, he bad already received a phone call from Mrs.

L & L R.EPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


Spizzirri in Florida. She had already been notified by

some other friends.

After the incident occurred, you know,

there were a lot of young kids that were informed of it

and word got around very fast. So even before we were

able to obtain the whereabouts of Mrs. Spizzirri in

Florida she was notified via telephone by a friend.

MR. PRATT: And if I could ask you a question,

Mr. Wipper, on that tape which my wife was -- my

ex-wife -- excuse me -- was on that tape, Mrs.

Spizzirri, and of course, everybody has got very heavy

emotions at a time like this, and so we overlook things

t.hat are said or not said. Rut my memory doesn't fail

me in the fact that - - I ' m only asking you to concur

that this was said by Mrs. Spizzirri on the tape.

She yelled at me accusing me that it was

my fault because I bought my daughter, Christina, the

car. She also stated in a screaming voice that - - she

yelled over and over I told you our daughter was an

alcoholic. I told you she had a drinking problem. You

never listened to me. You always think your daughter

can do whatever she wants to do. Well, now, your

daughter is dead. So now, here is a woman that is now

yelling at me and stating a fact that she has to1.J

L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, 11.1 ( 7 0 8 ) 6 2 3 - 7 5 8 0


me -- past tense - - that my daughter has a drinking

problem. She has stated that my daughter is an

alcoholic. Those were her words.

So why does a loving mot-her leave a child

at home for the first time in her life to have complete

run of a home that is known to be supposedly - - I will

get into this -- but supposedly an alcoholic. I don't

know this at firsthand knowledge because I have not

been with my child. My children, all minor children,

were stolen from me from the state of Wisconsin. I was

divorced. I divorced Mrs. Spizzirri in 1981. My

children became a ward of the State of Wisconsin and,

therefore -- and T have all documentation which just at

this time --

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Mr. Pratt, if you

could - - if you could -- you know, we don't really have


a lot of time.

MR. PRATT: I just want to put it up there.

MR. GARRIGAN: I object to this testimony.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: If you have

anything more relevant to add --


MR. PRATT: Yes, I do.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay.

MR. PRATT: If I could put some things on that

L&L REPORTING S E R V I C E WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


blackboard there.

MR. GARRIGAN: I object to his testimony.

It's hearsay and it's detrimental to my client,

MR. PRATT: This is court documents. It's not

hearsay.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: What I will do

is - - I don't wan.t to take any of the jury's time. I

ca'n let them look at it during cleliheration. We can

have it available for them. Whatever you would like to

leave, we can have it available for them during their

deliberation.

MR. PR.ATT: Okay. That is fair.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay. Is there

anything -- you know, whatever you'd like to leave,

that's fine. Is there anything else - - I want to try

to be fair and give everyone equal amount of time, but

we are kind of limited here. So is there anything else

you would like to add?

MR. PRATT: I would like to add that when you

do deliberate, my daughter was a very positive girl.

But when you see some of the stuff that I leave behind

here, you will find out that she is a child who went

through hell so that she could get to heaven. You used

the word "blunt trauma" that made my daughter finally

L & L R.EPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, L (708) 623-7580


demise. My daughter has had blunt trauma her entire

life since the day I divorced Mrs, Spizzirri.

MR. GARRIGAN: Again, I object. Again, this

is hearsay. This is --
MR. PR.ATT: This is not hearsay. There's

doctor's evidence, Her nose was broken twice, once by

her stepfather and once by Mrs. Spizzirri, and that is

legally recorded that the nose was repaired twice; that

the child has been abused, child abuse for her whole

life, and you are not going to object.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY COROMER: Mr. Pratt, please.

MR. PRATT: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Okay.

MR. PRATT: I'm sorry.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY COROMER: Is that all?

MR. PRATT: That --


THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: You say you have

documentation.

MR. PRATT: Yes.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Like I say, we will

have that available for the jury so they will have the

opportunity to look at that.

Did you have a question, sir?

A JUROR: It wasn't a question. T t was just a

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAW, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


/ statement. I think it is a matter of taking something

that's probably painful to a lot of people and using

I this forum as a way to air out grievances. The fact is

t.hat your daughter passed away and I don't think there

is anybody in this courtroom that wanted t.hat t-o

happen. I don't think your ex-wife or anybody else

feels that this was something that was mean.t to happen.

It was an accident and nobody intended it to happen,

and I think the fact that the past that you're bringing

up and differences that you're airing out with your

wife don't belong here. That's all I'm going to say in

regards to that.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Thank you.

Mr. Pratt, I'm going to --

I MR. PRATT: Sure, I understand.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Thank you very

much.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, then

1 this will conclude the evidence available in this

inquest. It will now be your duty to deliberate your

findings and, if possible, arrive at. a verdict as to

1 the cause of death, whether you deem i.t to be

accidental, suicidal, homicidal, whether or not blame

I should be placed on the part of anyone concerned. When

37
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAIJKEGAN, 1 L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580
you have reached a verdict, report to me, Chief Deputy

Coroner of Lake County, State of Illinois.

I will ask the jury to please remain in

this room and deliberate i-n private, I will have to

ask everyone else to please leave the room.

(Jury retires.!

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Ladies and

gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

THE JURY: Yes, we have.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY COR.ONER: I'll read the

verdict of the jury. It states:

38
L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, IL ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580
XERILLC-T
We, the undersigned Jurors, sworn to

inquire into the death of Christina Jean Pratt, on

oath, do find that she came to her death on

I September 7th, 1.992, at 1:57 a.m. at St. Therese

Medical Center Emergency Roam, Waukegan, in Lake

County, Illinois. We find that her death was due to

I multiple traumatic injuries due to blunt force trauma

which was a result of a single-vehicle roll-over that

I occurred on September 7th, 1992, at 12:45 a.m. on

Route 43 at intersection with Route 41 in park City,

Lake County, Illinois. From the evidence presented we,

the Jury, believe that the manner of her death to be

I (Signed by six Jurors.)

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: This verdict is

signed by Sharon 0 . Ahlemeyer, foreman, and five

additional members of the jury.

Is this your true and final verdict?

THE JURY: Yes, it is.

THE CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER: Then this will

I conclude the inquest into the manner and cause of death

of Christina Jean Pratt, Thank you.

I 39
L & L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAN, TL (708) 623-7550
STATE OF ILLINOIS )
SS:
COUNTY OF L A R E )

I , LINDA M. GIUSEFFI, do hereby certify

that I am a Certified Shorthand Reporter doing business

in the County of Lake and State of Illinois; that I

reported the foregoing Report of Proceedings in

shorthand; and that the foregoing is a t.rue and correct

1 transcript of my shorthand notes so taken as aforesaid.

Notary Public, Lakg County, IL

L&L REPORTING SERVICE WAUKEGAM, I L ( 7 0 8 ) 623-7580


BARBARA E. RICHARDSON
CORONER OF LAKE COUNTY

VERDICT FORM
STATE OF ILLINOIS

COUNTY OF LAKE
} ss.

An I n q u i s i t i o n was t a k e n f o r t h e People o f t h e S t a t e of I l l i n o i s ,
at. * fl i n t h e Town of Wadceqan
i n s a i d County o f LAKE , on t h e 29th day o f October
A. D . , 19 92 , before me, BARBARA E. RICHARDSON Coroner, i n and f o r s a i d county,
upon view o f t h e body o f Christina Pratt
t h e n and t h e r e l y i n g dead, upon t h e o a t h s o f s i x g o o d l a w f u l men of t h e s a i d county,
who b e i n g d u l y sworn t o i n q u i r e on t h e p a r t o f t h e People o f t h e S t a t e o f I l l i n o i s ,
i n t o a l l circumstances a t t e n d i n g t h e death of s a i d . .
r ? a t ~ n nPraPt
and by whom t h e same was produced, and i n what manner and when and where t h e s a i d
C h r i s t i n a Pratt came t o her death.
We, t h e u n d e r s i g n e d , J u r o r s sworn t o i n q u i r e i n t o t h e d e a t h of
. . Pratt
rrstana on o a t h do f i n d t h a t she
came t o br d e a t h by RIUlti~let?ZmKBtic injuries due to blunt force tlrauUB
which was a result of a -la r n l w e r thAt.MTsnlrrar? mr-. 7.
1992 at 12:45 a.m. on Rt. 43 at intersection with R t . 41 in Park City, L a k e
19

we t h e i u r y believe t h a t the xnannar of her


From the evidence ~resented~
to -.

I n t e s t i m o n y whereof, t h e s a i d Coroner and J u r y o f t h e i n q u e s t have h e r e u n t o


s e t t h e i r hands on t h e day and y e a r

................
J
7 LWLr,/L
....................
.\)=.:~.?y.{.
............................
D e ~ u t vCoroner
BARBARA E. RICHARDSON CORONER S CASE NO. yA -0 7 -$3 35'
CORONER OF LAKE COUNTY BOOK NO. 41 2

NAME OF DECEASED PRATT CHRISTINA JEAN


LAST FIRST MIDDLE
DATE OF DEATH: September 7) 1992 DATE OF BIRTH: August 6 ) 1974
AGE: 1~

INQUEST HELD AT Lake County Courthousel 10th FLoor, Ilsserribly Room


ON THE 29th DAY OF , 19 92

JURY NAMES:

SANDRA J. NIEHIETZ
DEAN J. JORDAN

WITNESSES : -
NAME ADDRESS OCCUPATION

James Ledinat Park City Police Dent. police Officer


Rwer Barrette, Lhke County Sheriff's Dept~t Depputy Sheriff

James Wipper, Lake County Coroner's Office, Deputy Coroner

DISPOSITION OF BODY: BURIAL XX CREMATION -PERVIT #

AT ~nmnrial. i.-er IL DATE Sept. 10, 1992

FUNERAL HOME Marsh Funeral H W r 305 Cemetery Rd-I Gurnee, I L 60031


DESCRIPTION OF DECEASED (IF NAME IS UNKNOWN):

TYPE OF DEATH: NATURAL ACCIDENTAL X HOMICIDE SUICIDE


-
(MOTOR VEHICLE XX
(INDUSTRIAL -
DROWNING -FIRE
OTHER Sinqle vehicle rollover
-
SHOOTING ->
1
VERDICT OF JURY

the undersigned jurors sworn inquire i n t o the death


Christina Jean Pratt on oath do find that
she came t o her death on September 7 1 1992

at 1:57 A.M. a t St. Therese Medical Center Emergency Room, Waukeganl


in Lake County, I l l i n o i s . We f i n d t h a t her death was
due t o multiple traumatic injuries due to blunt force trauma

which was a r e s u l t of ~1 :j ~ O C ~ \ <j e c1 e ,,\ 1 c J~w--

From the evidence presented, we the jury believe t h a t the manner


of her death t o be U ('C f (&,/a t[L-,/
(accidental, homicide, suicide,
natural causes, undetermined)

.....................
(optional addition f o r r e c m e n d a t i o n s from t h e jury)

I t i s our opinion t h a t

Foreman

You might also like