Thursday, February 28, 2013

Tim Smith trial and verdict

After a relatively short period, in my opinion, of deliberations, a jury today found Timothy Smith guilty late this afternoon in the fatal shooting of Kurt Milliman on May 28, 2011, near Woodstock.

Judge Prather had given the instructions to the jury with great clarity. The jury entered deliberations about 10:50AM. At 4:12PM it was announced that the jury was ready with its verdict, and many in the courthouse began moving to Courtroom 304.

The jury returned, and the foreman (politically-correctly called the Foreperson) handed the verdict file to the bailiff, who delivered it to Judge Prather. She announced the guilty verdict and added that it included the interrogatory that referred to involvement of a firearm, which results in an increased sentence.

Smith is facing a minimum sentence of 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The trial of Kimberly Smith is scheduled for March 11. She was granted use immunity to testify against Tim and, if she testified truthfully, nothing she gave in his trial can be used against her.

Her charges are Obstruction of Justice (two counts), false reporting of offense, and prostitution.
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Tim Smith found guilty

The following press release was sent by the McHenry County State's Attorney Office:



TIM SMITH CONVICTED OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that Tim Smith, 28, formerly of Woodstock, was found guilty, after a five hour jury deliberation, of the offense of first degree murder.

This case was investigated by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department. The victim, Kurt Milliman, had responded to a Craig’s List add which offered the services of a prostitute in exchange for money. When Milliman arrived at the defendant’s home on 4320 Doty Road, Woodstock, IL, he met Kimberly Smith, the defendant’s wife. The two started to have sexual relations, but Kimberly Smith abruptly stopped and an argument ensued. The defendant then came out of a room where he had been hiding and shot Kurt Milliman in the back. The defendant then damaged his home, smashed a window and called the police claiming someone had broken into the home and attacked his wife. A subsequent investigation by the Sheriff’s Department revealed that the defendant had placed the add on Craig’s List and was “pimping” his wife for profit. The defendant was interviewed by detectives and admitted to fabricating the story of the break-in and that he had been selling his wife for sex on the internet. The defendant will be sentenced on April 25, 2013 at 1:30 pm and faces a minimum sentence of 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The case was prosecuted by Michael Combs, Chief of the Criminal Division of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, Patrick Kenneally and Andrew Mueller.

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

madigan - stupid or just a jerk?

Mike Madigan is one powerful guy. Just ask him.

But want proof? Take a look at HB1155. Do it.

Go to www.ilga.gov  On the left sidebar, enter HB1155 under "Search by Number".

Notice first the long list of Sponsors. Count 'em. How many? Just one. Mike Madigan.

Then scroll down through the Bill. Scroll down some more. Then some more. Then more....

Isn't it sheer stupidity? Insanity? Then see again whose name is on it.

Wake up, Illinois!
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Wheelchair wanted - Need filled!!!

NOTE: Many thanks to the readers who responded. I was able to pick up a wheelchair today at Faith in Action and deliver it in Woodstock. The person is able to use it as long as needed and will then return it to Faith in Action, so that it can be used by someone else.

And a special thanks to Faith in Action!!!

Do you have an unused wheelchair that you would be willing to loan, give or sell?

Yesterday I got acquainted with a Woodstock woman at the courthouse who could certainly benefit from your generosity.

Sometimes, medical equipment outlives its usefulness or need, and then it sits in a basement, back room or garage.

If you have a chair and will make it available, please let me know (please call 815.338.2666) and I'll connect you with the woman who has the need for it.

Thanks for reading and for passing this along to anyone who might be able to help.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

What's really wrong in Illinois?

Naperville PD photo
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a 37-year-old Shorewood, Ill. man was driving 142MPH and DUI a year ago, when he crashed his Dodge Charger in Naperville.

Did Dean Suominen go to jail - as a sentence following his guilty plea?

What court do you want to be in, if this happens to you?

BAC 0.20%
142MPH
Trashed a Dodge Charger

He copped a plea of misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving. "Misdemeanor"? You're kidding! The deal? $3,000 fines, fees and restitution; alcohol evaluation; attend a victim impact panel. Oh, and maybe $10,000 or more to his lawyer.

My opinion? Hogwash. If this isn't an aggravated situation, what is? Apparently he didn't hurt or kill anyone. That time. Why didn't the judge hit him with a year in jail? Or maybe a two-year sentence, and suspend 18 months of it. No priors? Really? Who was the judge? The Chicago Tribune was kind enough not to name him.

It's too bad that Illinois isn't serious about DUIs.

Locally, municipalities are going to do a little horse-trading with defendants and lawyers and we'll start seeing deals of DUIs knocked down to careless driving. And all the money stays in town. Baloney!

First offense ought to be a mandatory minimum of three months in jail. And fast. No dragging it out for 6-12-18-24 months. If a driver's BAC is over 0.08%, three months in the slammer.

Think that would sober up some drivers and keep them from behind the wheel?
$3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact pane - See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf

A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
triblocaltips@tribune.com
Twitter: @TribLocal
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
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RECOMMENDED VIDEO
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
triblocaltips@tribune.com
Twitter: @TribLocal
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
  •  141

More from Tribune
Ads by Google
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
A man who officials said was driving in excess of 140 miles per hour before he lost control of his car in Naperville pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving.
Dean A. Suominen, 37, was sentenced to two years of supervision and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
He was cited on Jan. 10, 2012, after his Dodge Charger left the roadway and struck a billboard, Naperville City Prosecutor Mike DiSanto said.
Suominen’s blood-alcohol level was .20, DiSanto said. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
The car’s computer system indicated the vehicle was traveling at 142 miles per hour just before it left the roadway, the prosecutor said
Suominen, a Shorewood resident, also must pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution. He must undergo an alcohol evaluation and attend a victim impact panel, DiSanto said.
He did not have any previous alcohol-related driving offenses.
- See more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/chi-naperville-dui-plea-20130226,0,2108441.story#sthash.PXaL9RHx.dpuf
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State legislature food fight (errr, floor fight)

From the Illinois State Rifle Association:

HB-1155 - Floor fight in the Illinois House of Representatives right now!
 
It's a floor fight going on in the Illinois House of Representatives right now on Mike Madigan's HB-1155 carry bill.

It's time a again to call your representative and urge hiim or her to only support the amendments to this bill that have been introduced by Brandon Phelps (right now that's amendment #27)

Any amendment not by Brandon Phelps is an attempt to restrict your rights and is not supported by ISRA. Urge your representative to vote NO on any such amendment.

If you do not know who your state representative is, please click the link below and you will be able to identify your representative and get their Springfield phone number.

 Find contact information for your state rep here: www.ilga.gov

 Don't know who your state representative is? Go to http://www.elections.il.gov/

 Then click on "Voters" (top row), and then "Am I registered to vote?" Work your way through until you find the House District in which you live; then go to www.ilga.gov
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Illinois - Land of the weather wimps

Panic! Alert! Leave work early! Close the courts!

For crying out loud, it's still winter, folks. All we're having is a snowfall. What's the panic?

This week I'm observing the Timothy Smith trial. At about noon Judge Prather recessed for lunch and told everybody to be back by 1:30PM. At 1:30PM she announced that out-of-town employees were being sent home early and that the courthouse would probably close, so she recessed the trial until tomorrow at 9:00AM.

Sure would have been nice if she had done that at noon.

Then courthouse closing at 2:00PM was announced by NIXLE. And then that the voting polls at the government center would remain open.

Hello? Is there any kind of an inclement-weather plan? Does anyone know which drawer it's locked in?

How many people would leave work early if they forfeited the balance of their day's pay? Ahhh, there's the test. Salaried workers, of course, don't take it on the chin. But what about hourly workers? If they clock out at 2:00PM, do they lose 2-3 hours of pay?

Why not stay open, let (make) employees earn their pay, and then let them commute on their own time? Why should the taxpayers eat the lost time of salaried County employees?
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Monday, February 25, 2013

Madigan's HB 1155

Want to see something really stupid?

Go to www.ilga.gov and enter HB1155 on the left sidebar. Then look at today's activity. Look at the Action list for 2/25/2013.

Is it possible to even begin to understand what is going on?

Do you want to just pick up the phone and call Madigan's office and scream "WTH?" If you do, here's his phone number: (217) 782-5350.

How many Philadelphia lawyers would it take, and how many hours, to try to make heads or tails out of that?

Maybe a disqualifier for a seat in the General Assembly should be a law degree!
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Beth Bentley - 144 weeks

As of yesterday, Beth Bentley has been missing 144 weeks. Beth vanished on May 23, 2010.

How many people know where she is?

I suggest that at least three do.

For a missing person case, this is really a strange one. In other parts of the country, when a person goes missing, people get excited. Friends take an interest; family searches endlessly; even strangers get involved. Law enforcement seeks leads from the public and shares information that might lead to finding the person.

In this case? Where is the information from law enforcement? The Woodstock Police Department claimed the lead, because Beth's disappearance was reported to Woodstock PD late Monday evening, May 24, 2010. However, initial reports indicated Beth had been in southern Illinois with her friend Jennifer Wyatt. Jenn says she drove Beth from Mount Vernon, Ill. to Centralia, Ill. and dropped her off near the Amtrak Station.

Supposedly, the Mount Vernon and Centralia Police Department had a hand in the investigation. So did the Jefferson County (Ill.) Sheriff's Department, since the Ridge home was in the county, not in the city limits of Mount Vernon. The Woodstock Police Department chief said the Illinois State Police was involved.

Beth and Jenn had gone to Mount Vernon, so that Jenn could visit her boyfriend, Ryan Ridge. Ryan and his brother, Nathan, were at a house in rural Mount Vernon owned by the Ridge family.

Police have never offered details of the week-end, from the time early Friday morning when Beth and Jenn would have arrived by car after leaving Woodstock Thursday evening. Or even from the time Beth and Jenn were supposed to have left Woodstock. What did one, two, three or four of them do over the week-end?

Three of them are available to talk about it. But they aren't. Why not?
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Tim Smith jury being chosen

Jury selection started in the Timothy Smith murder trial today. Smith is on trial for the murder of Kurt Milliman in May 2011 and has been held in the McHenry County Jail since then on a $900,000 bail.

As is a defendant's right, Smith was present in the courtroom when the jury was selected. Of the first 15 jurors questioned, seven were excused, and eight were chosen as qualified to serve by 3:30PM. Jury selection continued. The trial is expected to take up this week and could end by Thursday, if weather doesn't interfere and cause an extension.

Prospective jurors were excused by Judge Prather and by request of the assistant public defender and the assistant state's attorney.


I shall not comment about the jurors who were excused or qualified until the conclusion of the trial, and possibly not even then.

Jurors were asked if they knew anything about the case or the accused; some acknowledged that they had heard of it, mostly from newspaper reporting shortly after it happened.

Judge Prather is very specific and methodical when she questions a prospective juror. Her questions are clear and complete, and it should be easy for a prospective juror to answer. She speaks in a clear voice and loudly enough to be heard throughout the courtroom.

If jury selection is completed today, then the trial will begin in opening statements tomorrow morning at 9:00AM in Courtroom 304. The prosecution has subpoenaed Smith's wife, Kimberly Holian Smith, to testify, and Judge Prather granted her use immunity last week. According to the State's Motion, if Kimberly Smith refuses to testify, she may expose herself to being found in contempt of court.
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