Plodding in Milliman murder case

Is the pattern being set in the cases of Timothy S. Smith and Kimberly A. (Holian) Smith, who were involved in the murder of Kurt Milliman in May?

"Status- Trial Date" is starting to show up on a regular basis in the records of the McHenry County Circuit Court.

Kimberly Smith had a court date on September 19, and the firm of Donahue & Walsh has been retained to defend her, replacing the Special Public Defender.

Timothy A. Smith, who is accused of actually pulling the trigger, had a court date on September 22. He continues to be represented by the Public Defender. What serious court business was conducted on September 22? The judge granted a request for the return of some property to the Milliman family.

Now, you'd think that would be a fairly straight-forward matter, but the family experiences run-around and delay.

How long will Timothy Smith continue with a taxpayer-funded public defender before he turns to a private attorney? He has never submitted a financial affidavit. Does he have money (somewhere), or access to money, for a private attorney? Why hasn't the judge ever asked for a financial affidavit? The judge appointed a public defender, it seemed, only because Smith was showing up in court without representation. Will Smith run out time with a public defender and then, miraculously, hire a private attorney, who will drag out the case for months more because he "needs time to prepare"?

Why wasn't Kimberly Smith charged with being an accessory? Wasn't she part of a crime that led to Kurt Milliman's murder? She is charged with crimes, so far, that will probably result in probation and conditional discharge? No jail time. Modest fine and court costs. Oh, yes; and huge legal costs.

Kimberly, just so no one forgets, is charged with Prostitution, False Report of Offense, and two counts of Obstruction of Justice/Destroy Evidence. Will her attorneys fight to keep any reference to Kurt Milliman's murder out of her trial? Will her attorneys make a "deal", so that the case never goes to trial? If that happens, the public will never get a chance to hear what really happened that night on Doty Road, just outside the City Limits of Woodstock. Will the State insist on 7-10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and take the case to trial?

Next court dates?
October 19 Kimberly Smith, 9AM, Courtroom 302
October 20 Timothy Smith, 9AM, Jail court

Does anyone know what a "star chaser" is?

Timothy Smith's other charges

In the Jail Court (Rights Court) hearing yesterday for Timothy Smith, accused murderer of Kurt Milliman, Judge Condon stated that he had had his clerk check for other cases. Two had been found, and Judge Condon was going to have those brought into this court.

What were they?

Case No. 10CM002617 is a case in which Smith was charged with battery, after some type of altercation occurred on October 31, 2010. According to the Complaint in that case, Smith "knowingly made contact of an insulting nature with Daniel Hart, in that he slapped the wrist of Daniel Hart and shoved Danile Hart in the chest with 2 open hands."

Who is Daniel Hart? He owns D.C. Cobbs on Main St., just off the Woodstock Square.

Wrapping up that case with a murder case means, I suspect, that the battery charge will never be tried. If Smith is convicted on the murder charge, this case will get nolle prossed. Just keep watching...

Case No. 10CM001213 happened about five months earlier. On May 21, 2010, Smith was charged with "obstructing identification" and resisting a peace officer. That case has three Counts:

I. Smith told a Woodstock cop that his name was "Tim Bob" while he was being detained in a criminal investigation;
II. Smith is charged with pushing and shoving Woodstock Ofc. Kopulos and fleeing the scene;
III. Smith was charged for refusing to place his hands behind his back before being handcuffed.

Smith has an attorney on this last case, and Judge Condon expects Matthew Haiduk to show up at Smith's next court date on August 18th. These charges will probably get tossed, too. Just a guess on my part.

Smith's case was moved to the Jail Court after, according to an article in the Northwest Herald, threats were made against Smith. Oh, wait; threats weren't made. There were rumors of threats. Judge Condon made the change in an order on Motion by the Court, rather than upon a motion by either the defense or the prosecutor. And he did it outside the courtroom.

Personally, I would liked to have heard the arguments in court. If the Sheriff's Department knows of threats, then let's hear about them in open court, not in a statement from Undersheriff Zinke to a reporter. Let the Undersheriff be sworn in to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then let him testify why he believes added security is needed.

There is already a huge gaggle of armed, uniformed court security officers at the main entrance of the courthouse every morning. Over-staffing is evident. There must be a huge budget for these officers, who are not deputies or sworn peace officers. They are security guards, although many, if not all, are former police officers or deputies.

The "C.E.R.T." corrections officer in the Jail Court yesterday was mostly engaged in informal conversation with the other two corrections officers and seldom had his eye on the defendant or anyone else who could have created a disturbance. Did they think Sara Sutschek or I would bust through the glass for a private interview with Smith? We didn't try that upstairs in open court, where there had been no C.E.R.T. officer. As I recall, Smith hadn't even been brought into the open courtroom in handcuffs or leg irons. What kept him from busting out right there?

Smith's wife, Kimberly, was in court this morning and her case was routinely continued for a month, to August 19. This one will probably get to trial in 2013 or 2014, if continuances and scheduling run true to form.She agreed to be fingerprinted as part of a major-crimes investigation. And out the door she went.

No one acknowledged Smith's birthday in court on Thursday, when he turned 27. Kimberly turned 29 last week.

Could prostitution charge collapse?

Kimberly A. (Holian) Smith, 28, is charged with four crimes related to the death of Kurt Milliman on May 28, in unincorporated McHenry County just outside Woodstock. The charges are Prostitution, Disorderly Conduct and Obstruction of Justice (2 Counts).

McHenry County Sheriff's Department Detective Quick is the complainant. In Count One, Smith is alleged to have falsely stated that she had made a telephone call to her husband at a time when he was not home. If Timothy Smith wasn't "not" home, then he was home.

In Count Two (a Disorderly Conduct charge), Smith is alleged to have falsely reported a home invasion, knowing that none had occurred, when she summoned the sheriff's department to the residence of her husband, Timothy Smith, and her at 4320 Doty Road. That's just south of Centegra Hospital-Woodstock and on the east side of the road. What is "Disorderly Conduct" about that?

So far, the sheriff's department has been silent on the time when Milliman was shot. Had he already been shot, when Kimberly Smith dialed 9-1-1? Or was Milliman shot after the 9-1-1 call and before the first deputy arrived? Who was the first deputy?

In Count Three Smith is alleged to have falsely informed Det. McDonald by stating that her husband was not at home when Milliman arrived.

Count Four seems to contain a huge problem; at least, for me. It reads,

"In the name and by the authority of the People of the State of Illinois, Det. Quick, hereinafter called the complainant, on oath charges that on or about the 29th (sic) day of May, 2011, in McHenry County, Illinois, Kimberly Smith, hereinafter called the defendant committed the offense of Prostitution in violation of Chapter 720 Act 5 Paragraph 11-14 of he Illinois Compiled Statutes in that said Defendant

"Knowingly agreed with Kurt Milliman to perform (a sex act described in detail, with) Kimberly Smith in exchange for $40.00 United State's (sic) Currency."

When a prostitution charge is the basis for everything that follows and that happened on the night of Saturday, May 28, isn't it important to state the date of the sexual act correctly, when there is little or no question about the date?

Is saying "on or about the 29th day of May", knowing that it didn't happen on the 29th, but on the 28th, important? Is there some reason why that error wasn't caught and fixed before the Complaint was filed?

The sex act certainly did not occur on Sunday, May 29. That's when Kurt Milliman was in the hospital, where he died in the early morning hours.

Kimberly Smith case - getting squirrelly?

This case is getting stranger and stranger by the day. When Kimberly Smith's case was called this morning in Judge Prather's courtroom, a woman I thought was Kimberly did not approach the bench. Usually, you would expect to hear the attorney say something like, "Mrs. Smith is present in the courtroom and approaching, your honor" or, if the defendant has already reached the bench and was standing alongside her attorney, "Mrs. Smith is present, your honor." I didn't hear either.

Nor did the woman in the front row stand and move forward. Nor was she summoned.

According to VINELink records (http://www.vinelink.com/), Smith was released from custody on Friday. She was supposed to be in court today. I think she was. But why didn't Judge Prather haul her up to the front of the courtroom?

When Smith filled out the financial forms for a public defender, she recorded that she had $20 in the bank and $600 in cash. Where did the other $900 come from, so she could bond out last Friday?

An order was entered last Friday allowing release of her wallet and any money in her vehicle (in the Sheriff's custody) to her sister, Kristine Holian. But a later order, also last Friday, stayed that order "until further order of the Court." Did the sister get the money before the Sheriff heard about the stay?

Did the money in her vehicle get inventoried and inspected for fingerprints before it was turned over to Kristine, if it was?

Smith is under a May 30th Firearms Surrender and No Contact Order. If she was released on Friday, did she surrender her firearms before Sunday to the Sheriff? And she is not allowed contact with her husband, Timothy Smith, who is still in custody.

Does Smith have a FOID card? Does Timothy Smith have a FOID card? Whose gun was used on May 29 to shoot Kurt Milliman?

So that this article doesn't get too long, see the next article for a reason the case against Kimberly Smith might start to fall apart.

K. Smith bond reduced to $15,000

I didn't bother to go to the courthouse today at 9:00AM for Kimberly (Holian) Smith's bond hearing. It's probably good that I didn't. I'd hate to get ejected from a courtroom for reacting to Judge Condon's decision to reduce her bond from $50,000 to $15,000.

Oh, my, she had a cast on one arm and told the judge she is two months pregnant. Sob, sob, sob...

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this whole story about what happened on Saturday night, May 29, at 4320 Doty Road, just outside Woodstock City Limits?

According to the Northwest Herald, Special Public Defender Colin MacMeekin made a pitch for lower bond, because Smith hasn't been charged with homicide. Well, I ask "Why not?"

If a getaway driver can go to jail for life because a robber inside a store shoots and kills someone, then why isn't a wife who is alleging selling sex for $40 at risk for prison, if her husband kills someone during commission of a crime.

If a crime was occurring. If her husband killed Kurt Milliman. If, if, if...

Kimberly Smith's next court date is June 16, 9:00AM. The prosecutors were worried that she might be a flight risk, because she has missed court dates in the past. If she is bailed out before then, will she be in court on June 16?

Timothy Smith's next court date is June 24, 9:00AM.