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Guilty Verdict
The first hazing case to go to trial resulted in a guilty verdict. The mom who hosted the party goes on trial Thursday.
Teen guilty in Glenbrook hazing
Former senior sentenced to year of court supervision in battery case
By Courtney Flynn
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 4, 2003
Despite testimony from a former Glenbrook North High School senior who maintained her innocence in a violent hazing, a judge found her guilty Monday of misdemeanor battery.
After a bench trial that lasted about 15 minutes in the Skokie courthouse, Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy Chambers sentenced Gina Mengarelli, 18, of the 2600 block of Cherry Lane in Northbrook to a year of court supervision.
"As foolish as the activities of the defendant may have been, I do not think they were criminal," said Mengarelli's attorney, Steven Decker, who plans to appeal.
Mengarelli's case was the first stemming from the widely publicized hazing to go to trial.
Fourteen other teens have been found guilty of misdemeanor battery or alcohol charges related to the hazing, which occurred May 4 in Chipilly Woods, near Northbrook. One parent has pleaded guilty to providing alcohol to minors.
A second parent is expected to appear in court Thursday on charges she provided a place for minors to drink. Another former student awaits trial in December.
During her trial Monday, Mengarelli admitted she threw ketchup, mustard and coffee grounds at junior girls during the fracas.
Mengarelli, who now attends an out-of-state college, repeatedly denied striking one junior in the back with her knee and pulling another girl's hair and pushing her to the ground, as prosecutors alleged.
Asked by her attorney if she intended to harm any of the juniors, Mengarelli responded: "Absolutely not."
Mengarelli told the judge she believed the juniors consented to her actions because they freely participated in the event.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
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