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.

Tim Smith's previous, but open, charges

In Rights Court this morning Judge Condon said that he had had his clerk check for other open cases against Timothy S. Smith, and two had been found. He is having those cases transferred to his court.

Smith is in custody in the McHenry County Jail on a first-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of Kurt Milliman, 48, on May 28, 2011.

On October 31, 2010, Smith was charged with battery by Woodstock Police. Case No. 10CM 002617 started through the "system".

On May 21, 2010, Smith was charged with Obstructing Identification and two counts of interfering with a peace officer. Case No. 10CM001213 is a Woodstock PD complaint and being prosecuted by the McHenry County State's Attorney. If you want to see why the Circuit Court is backlogged and jammed to the gills is cases, look at the history in the court records. Smith's attorney on this case is Matthew Haiduk.

Continuances on the Defendant's Motion were granted on June 23, 2010, July 21, 2010 (that's one year ago today), August 18, 2010, and September 15, 2010. Then a jury trial was requested on October 13. Then Continuances on Defendant's Motions were granted on November 10, December 8, January 5, February 9, March 9, March 16, April 13. On May 10, a jury trial was finally set.

Two weeks later Smith allegedly shot Kurt Milliman.

What is the wheels of justice had been oiled up sooner and if this (and the other case) had been resolved on a timely basis? What if the approach of our court system was, "You know what? We're not fooling around for months. Get ready for trial - next month!" And then stick to it. Most of the cases are not that complicated. They don't take months and months to prepare for.

Judges should stop letting attorneys stall for more time! All judges should demand reasons for continuances from attorneys and then hold them accountable at the next hearing.

T. Smith court location moved

The accused murderer of Kurt Milliman has had his court appearance location moved. Although even through this morning the Circuit Court records show that Timothy S. Smith's case (11CF000520) will be heard in Courtroom 302, the records are wrong. If you showed up there, you were in the wrong place.

Smith now will appear in Rights Court, which is conducted in the McHenry County Jail building. A Motion was approved by the judge on July 19 to move hearings to the Rights Court. He appeared there at 9:00AM today with his public defender, and the only business that was conducted was to continue the case to August 18th at 9:00AM.

What a total waste of time for the judge and the attorneys, both from the public defender's office and the office of the State's Attorney!

Because the audience and observers of the Rights Court are separated from the courtroom by a wall and security glass, the sound is amplified into the observation area. Judge Condon's voice was audible and understandable.

Because of the amplification system in the Rights Court I wasn't able to understand Assistant State's Attorney Michael Combs. He turned appropriately to face Judge Condon, and apparently the microphone did not pick up clearly what he was saying.

When the Public Defender spoke, her lips moved but no sound came into the observation room. Was her microphone turned off? Wouldn't you think someone would check the sound system?

Three corrections officers were in the hearing room, including one C.E.R.T. officer dressed in his SWAT gear. I guess he was worried enough about someone that he wore his armored vest into the courtroom. Was it pride or swagger? He was busy chatting up the other COs and often had his back to the inmate. I guess he wasn't too worried about the Northwest Herald reporter or me, who were the only observers.

Online court records should reflect the correct location for the hearings. "Rights Court" is a menu choice for the data-entry personnel, because it has been used in other cases.

Initially, Smith was appointed a public defender because the judge was concerned that he was appearing on a murder charge without representation. If Smith has not ever filed a financial affidavit with the Court, is he entitled to a public defender? Does he have assets or is a private lawyer available to him? How long will he go on a First-Degree Murder charge with a public defender?

See the next article (above) about Smith's other two charges.

Loose ends in murder case?

In a murder case, shouldn't every detail be covered with care? Every "t" crossed? Every "i" dotted? Could a few skipped points come back to haunt a prosecutor or a judge in the future?

On May 28 Timothy S. Smith, 26, allegedly shot Kurt Milliman, who died only a few hours later.

At Smith's court appearance on June 3 the judge asked Smith if he had a lawyer. He didn't. So the judge appointed a Public Defender. It sounded to me like an interim and temporary appointment, during which Smith would be arranging for his own lawyer. No financial affidavit was required prior to the appointment.

It would seem that by now, if Smith was not going to hire his own lawyer, the Court would have required a financial affidavit to ascertain whether Smith was entitled to have a public defender. Requiring an affidavit would also uncover any assets that Smith has and possibly raise questions about the source of such assets.

On June 24 a Court Order set a court date for July 1. Somehow that one got scrapped on June 27, when a July 21 court date was set for 9:00AM. This was a "no order" scheduling; i.e., done without a written Order prepared for and signed by the judge.

What's up with the shortcuts here? This is a capital murder case, not theft of a package of cigarettes.

Timothy's wife, Kimberly, wanted any money that Timothy had, which probably helped her with bail money, and the Court ordered that his money should be released to Kimberly's sister. That court order is part of Kimberly's case, and with Timothy's permission.

Kimberly's $600 cash that she affirmed having in her own affidavit for a public defender was to be released to her sister, but the Court stayed that order. Is that $600 still in the Sheriff's custody, or did it get out the door before someone came across the stay, which was issued on the same day as the order? Couldn't that cash be possible evidence?

Everything in this case should be done "by the book." No exceptions. No shortcuts. Why are some matters so loose right at the beginning of the case?