From Monday's decision in People v. Bourdage, by Illinois Appellate Court Justice Michael Hyman, joined by Justices Aurelia Pucinski and Mary Ellen Coghlan:
A grand jury indicted Sherri Bourdage for violating a single provision of a no-stalking-no-contact order by "indirectly communicat[ing] about Joseph Peila to his employer[.]" … The State called Chicago Public School principal Joseph Peila and CPS receptionist Regina Patillo. Peila testified that he met Bourdage in 2010 when she toured the school where he served as principal. They had many contentious encounters over the years, and by 2016, the trial court issued a two-year no-stalking-no-contact order against Bourdage. An alleged violation of this order underlies the prosecution here.
Peila testified he received emails in 2018 stating someone had spoken about him to others: (i) a school-council member emailed to say a "Susan Rice" had called and given a phone number Peila traced to a store Bourdage owns and (ii) CPS' Chief Executive Office employees emailed that Bourdage had called to talk about Peila. CPS receptionist Patillo testified she received a call from Bourdage in 2018, in which Bourdage leveled various accusations against Peila….
The State argued that Bourdage violated the no-stalking-no-contact order by calling Peila's employer, and that her accusations were defamatory and a threat to Peila's safety…. The trial court found Bourdage guilty … [and] sentenced her to two years' probation….
