Is Police Officer's Injury During Escape Attempt After a Traffic Stop Considered Aggravated Battery ?

In People v. Cameron, 189 Ill. App. 3d 998, 546 N.E.2d 259, 137 Ill. Dec. 505 (1989), the police stopped the defendant and permitted him to get back into his truck so he could turn off the motor. Instead, the defendant sped away with the passenger door still open. An officer was standing next to the truck when the defendant sped away, and the truck doorjamb struck his wrist, knocking him back a few steps and causing him to require medical treatment. On appeal, the defendant argued that the State failed to prove the requisite mental state for aggravated battery. The court rejected the defendant's argument, finding that the jury could have reasonably found that he was: (1) "consciously aware" that his passenger side door was open and; (2) "consciously aware" that the officer was "practically certain" to be hit by some portion of the vehicle when the defendant drove off. Cameron, 189 Ill. App. 3d at 1008. "The evidence the passenger side door was open and that the officer was standing next to the truck in the open doorway when defendant suddenly started the truck and sped away is crucial to our decision that the evidence supported the verdict finding defendant guilty of aggravated battery." Cameron, 189 Ill. App. 3d at 1008.