People v. Pollock

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of aggravated batter and felony murder of her 3 1/2 year old daughter; appellate court affirmed; Illinois Supreme Court reversed conviction without remand, finding evidence was insufficient to support inference that Defendant knew, prior to daughter's death, that her paramour was abusing the child. Trial court properly denied Defendant's petition for certificate of innocence, as Defendant failed to prove by a preponderance of evidence that she was actually innocent of charges filed against her. There was ample circumstantial evidence that Defendant knew there was substantial risk of serious harm yet took no action to protect child from future injury by abuser. "Not guilty" is not the legal equivalent of "innocent." (LYTTON, specially concurring; McDADE, dissenting.)