Former Lake in the Hills president guilty of domestic battery
A former Lake in the Hills village president was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery Monday, with the judge concluding that Paul Mulcahy threw his then girlfriend outside during an argument at his home Nov. 6 and used unreasonable force in dragging her down a set of stairs by her feet after she came back.
"I don't think that's reasonable use of force under any measure," McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer said.
Mulcahy, 65, was acquitted of five additional counts of domestic battery; however, convictions on those would not have added to Mulcahy's punishment.
In the one-day trial, police testified that they were called to Mulcahy's home on the 3900 block of Peartree Drive in the early morning and found the victim shivering outside in a black top and her underwear.
She was upset and had abrasions on her back from her shoulder blades down her back, testified Floyd Howen, a Lake in the Hills police sergeant. "It looked like really bad rug burn, bleeding a little bit," Howen said.
Mulcahy testified that he drank three beers that night over a six-hour span and that the victim consumed four double-vodka drinks and a glass of wine.
Mulcahy said the woman, whom he had dated for over two years, had been verbally abusive toward him. He had broken up with her that Friday, but she asked him to take her back the next day, Nov. 5, he said.
They went out that night for drinks and appetizers but argued once they returned to his home. Mulcahy testified that he guided her to the front door and told her to leave or call for a ride. She became irate, texting him, calling and ringing the doorbell, he said.
After the noise stopped, Mulcahy went to investigate and found that the woman had entered the home through a window and was sleeping in a spare bedroom, he testified. Mulcahy said he again asked the woman to leave and that when she refused, he pulled her down the stairs.
"At this point, it's criminal trespass," defense attorney William Bligh said.
Feetterer found that Mulcahy grabbed and pulled the victim in the first instance and threw her out the front door with enough force to make her fall.
The second time, even though the victim was in the home without permission, Mulcahy was not justified in the force he used to remove her, the judge ruled.
Mulcahy, who lost a re-election bid in the spring, is next due in court Aug. 28 and faces a sentence ranging from probation to up to 364 days in jail.