Cordell Collins insisted he wasn’t the same man who attacked his then-girlfriend with a clothes iron and his fists more than six years ago.
“I was 23 years old when I caught this case, very immature, very misled with no sense of direction,” Collins, 30, told Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray, who imposed a five-year prison sentence for battery resulting in serious bodily injury.
More Top Picks What Is The 20 20 20 Rule And Does It Actually Work
Collins told Murray at a Sept. 21 hearing he started a daycare business in Chicago to give his family stability, underwent anger management counseling, attended meetings to help him battle his addictions and is working on getting his general contractor license. Collins gestured to the gallery, where his wife cradled their newborn daughter.
“I’ve done everything in my power to get my life together,” Collins said.
But Murray saw it differently. “You’re the same man, Mr. Collins. You may have matured some as a result of these charges and I recognize people do learn from their mistakes,” the judge said. But that doesn’t change Collins’ “terrible” criminal record, Murray said, which includes eight felony convictions. By law, the judge said he was required to consider Collins’ criminal record in deciding a fair sentence.
At the time Collins beat the woman, which resulted in charges including attempted murder, he was on parole in Illinois, Murray said.
Collins admitted in court in December that he attacked the woman March 11, 2011, at a Highland apartment where they were living. Collins admitted he got into a fight with the woman and hit her in the face and head with an iron and punched her. The woman was treated for a concussion and broken nose.
Charges of attempted murder, carjacking and three counts of criminal confinement were dismissed.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.