Plainfield Sisters Head to Court in Thermostat Fight

Did one sister deliberately set the stage to attack another over the temperature setting in their Plainfield home, or was it a case of an "instantaneous catfight?"

That's what a Will County judge will be asked to decide Monday, when Ilona Sales faces a battery charge for allegedly knocking her sister Wanda Lupina to the ground and punching her in the face in a fight over whether the theromostat should be set at 67 degrees or 68, according to a story in the Sunday Chicago Tribune.

The case has also spawned a civil lawsuit over the home's ownership. The house was originally owned by Lupina, who agreed in 2008 that her sister could move in and they would share expenses, the article said.

Sales used the proceeds from selling her house in Arizona to pay off Lupina's $31,000 mortgage, Sales' lawsuit said. In exchange, Lupina changed the deed to reflect a 50/50 ownership arrangement. Sales wants a judge to undo the partnership and have Lupina return her money, even it means selling the house, the story said.

But the criminal case will be decided first. The fight occurred two days after Christmas, triggered when Sales raised the thermostat temperature from 67 degrees to 68.

Lupina apparently prefers it cooler, and put the temperature back at 67, according to an order of protection she sought against her sister, the article said. Sales returned the thermostat to 68 and then waited for Lupina to return.

In Lupina's account, Sales shoved her away from the thermostat, knocked her to the ground, pulled her hair and punched her in the eye. But Sales counters that it was Lupina who "charged" at her, the story said.

"My client's allegation is her sister is the one who initiated the physical confrontation," Steven Haney, Sales' attorney, told the Tribune. "It was mutual combat that probably lasted only 15 seconds."

"Mutual combat" is a legal defense in a battery case, Haney said. He described the case to The Associated Press as "an instantaneous catfight."

Lupina's attorney could not be reached for comment, the stories said.