Coroner's Inquest for Kurt Milliman today

The Coroner's inquest into the death of Kurt Milliman was conducted this morning. The jury was empaneled prior to the 11:00AM starting time and instructed in private. This happened at the last inquest I attended, too. Apparently, it's up to the deputy coroner who conducts it. How should it be? Everything but the deliberations should be in public.

The public should be able to hear what instructions are given to the jurors and the alternates. These are the rules by which they will make their decision. In a courtroom a judge doesn't take a jury aside to instruct them. The McHenry County Coroner should establish a policy and see that it is followed.

The representative from the Coroner's office did not introduce herself. (The Northwest Herald article identified her as Deputy Coroner Paula Gallas.) She called the inquest to order and gave a brief summary. After stating that Kurt died from a gun shot to the chest (sic), she made a statement that his blood-alcohol count (BAC) was 0.121 and said that was "above the limit."

Whoa! Wait just one minute! The 0.08 BAC limit is for operators of motor vehicles, not for persons on foot or standing in someone's home. If she felt it was necessary to mention the BAC at that point, she should not have made any reference to "above the limit." There was nothing illegal about a 0.121 BAC!

She then introduced Det. Mike Quick from the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. After being sworn in, Det. Quick attempted to tell the jurors when he was notified. After searching through his report for an unseemly amount of time, he said he was notified by Sgt. Tadelman and I thought I heard him say at "2550". I'll have to read the transcript when it is available to see whether I heard him correctly. If that's what he said, what time did he mean? No one says "2550"; there is no such military time as 2550.

He went through the activities at the Smith residence very quickly, and what I heard him say didn't make sense to me. I thought he said that Deputy Singer (first on scene?), Kramer, another deputy and he entered the residence after the Smiths were placed in patrol cars. (It sounded like he said "cars".) When they entered, they found Kurt on the front hallway floor. They "cleared" the house so that Woodstock Fire Rescue paramedics could enter safely. So, how much time passed before they entered? Or did Quick explain it incorrectly? Or did I misunderstand him?

When I went to the first inquest I attended, in 2007, I had read in the Coroner's Inquest Instructions that witnesses at an inquest were to be those with first-hand knowledge. If that's true, why wasn't Deputy Singer at the inquest?

Det. Quick didn't have first-hand information of what had happened before he arrived. About those events he could only tell us what he was told, and that's not what a Coroner's Jury is to hear.

Kurt was actually shot in the back (isn't the chest commonly referred to as the front of the torso?) and the bullet traveled upwards from the right side of his back to the left shoulder. While the time he was shot was not estimated, it had to be before the 9-1-1 call to the Sheriff's Department. Det. Quick said the Smiths panicked and concocted an initial home invasion story, but that blew up pretty quickly. For how long did Timothy Smith delay before calling 9-1-1?

The Complaint that is the basis for prostitution and pimping charges against the Smiths indicates a $40 transaction, but a $50 bill was found in the bathroom near the front entrance. After the inquest concluded, an Assistant State's Attorney said that you almost never get fingerprints off money. A condom package was found in the bedroom, but there was no mention of a used condom. Was that package even from that night?

Did they attempt to lift prints from the $50.00 bill or from any of the money in Kimberly Smith's purse or vehicle or from money in Timothy Smith's vehicle? Supposedly there was $600 cash that Kimberly had. Where did that come from? Was it released to her? Is the court-ordered Stay on the release of her property still in effect?

If Kimberly and Timothy Smith attempted to conceal the crime or discussed what to do with Kurt's body, why isn't she charged with a crime more serious that prostitution?