In his last days in office, Gov. Pat Quinn is tying up loose ends, and among his final duties are a series of pardons he's granting for past criminal acts.
On Friday, Quinn pardoned an Edwardsville woman convicted of drenching her ex-husband in hot grease during a domestic dispute 15 years ago.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Joy Brown was sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 for heinous battery. She says she was defending herself against Damien Brown, who she said was abusive.
Prosecutors contended that Joy Brown — now 35 — planned the attack as retribution for Damien Brown's infidelity. In an unrelated incident, she had told Collinsville police that she wanted to drench him with hot grease.
The Clemency Project for Battered Women sought reprieve for Brown. Former Gov. George Ryan cut her sentence in half in 2003.
The pardon was among 232 Quinn issued Friday. It removes the conviction from Brown's record.
