Spring Break
Recruit Pratl found not guilty of battery charges
Staff Report
Issue date: 6/4/09 Section: Sports
Shaun Pratl, an Eastern basketball recruit for the 2009-10 season, was found not guilty of misdemeanor battery charges by a Cook County judge on May 11.
The standout from Richards High School in Oak Lawn, was on trial for allegedly pushing Bree Bonnema, a Mother McAuley High School student, during an altercation at a drinking party on Nov. 26.
Pratl and another man, 18 year-old Michael Hennigan, were charged with misdemeanor battery after the two allegedly shoved Bonnema to the ground during a scuffle resulting from a game of beer pong.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Bonnema testified during an April bench trial that she was taunting Pratl and Hennigan after the pair looked like they would lose in the drinking game.
She said Pratl threw her into a garage door, causing her injury.
Bonnema reportedly gave contradicting statements to police after the incident. According to an article in the SouthtownStar, an Oak Lawn police detective testified that Bonnema gave conflicting versions of how the fight occurred.
"First (she said) that Hennigan attacked a 16-year-old boy and shoved her to the ground when she tried to intervene and later saying that Pratl threw her against the garage door while cursing at her," an Oak Lawn police detective testified.
During the May 11 hearing, Circuit Judge Kerry Kennedy cleared Pratl and Hennigan of the charges, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the case.
"You can't have your complaining witness be impeached by giving three different stories to law enforcement," Pratl's attorney, Michael Walsh, told the SouthtownStar in a May 11 article. "When you add the intoxication level along with the multiple stories about what happened ... this isn't a civil case, this is a criminal case, and there must be guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
Pratl, a star who helped lead Richards to a state championship in 2008, told the Chicago Tribune he was glad he could go to Eastern this fall with a clear mind.
"I'm sorry for everyone that we to wait so long to hear the truth," he told the Tribune in a May 12 article.
The incident has not affected Pratl's future with Eastern. He has retained his scholarship and will enroll at Eastern as a freshman in the fall.
Eastern head men's basketball coach Mike Miller declined to comment on the matter.
Information compiled by Kayleigh Zyskowski and Jeff Jurinek.
The standout from Richards High School in Oak Lawn, was on trial for allegedly pushing Bree Bonnema, a Mother McAuley High School student, during an altercation at a drinking party on Nov. 26.
Pratl and another man, 18 year-old Michael Hennigan, were charged with misdemeanor battery after the two allegedly shoved Bonnema to the ground during a scuffle resulting from a game of beer pong.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Bonnema testified during an April bench trial that she was taunting Pratl and Hennigan after the pair looked like they would lose in the drinking game.
She said Pratl threw her into a garage door, causing her injury.
Bonnema reportedly gave contradicting statements to police after the incident. According to an article in the SouthtownStar, an Oak Lawn police detective testified that Bonnema gave conflicting versions of how the fight occurred.
"First (she said) that Hennigan attacked a 16-year-old boy and shoved her to the ground when she tried to intervene and later saying that Pratl threw her against the garage door while cursing at her," an Oak Lawn police detective testified.
During the May 11 hearing, Circuit Judge Kerry Kennedy cleared Pratl and Hennigan of the charges, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the case.
"You can't have your complaining witness be impeached by giving three different stories to law enforcement," Pratl's attorney, Michael Walsh, told the SouthtownStar in a May 11 article. "When you add the intoxication level along with the multiple stories about what happened ... this isn't a civil case, this is a criminal case, and there must be guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
Pratl, a star who helped lead Richards to a state championship in 2008, told the Chicago Tribune he was glad he could go to Eastern this fall with a clear mind.
"I'm sorry for everyone that we to wait so long to hear the truth," he told the Tribune in a May 12 article.
The incident has not affected Pratl's future with Eastern. He has retained his scholarship and will enroll at Eastern as a freshman in the fall.
Eastern head men's basketball coach Mike Miller declined to comment on the matter.
Information compiled by Kayleigh Zyskowski and Jeff Jurinek.
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