Murder trial - "not that complicated"

In Saturday's Northwest Herald (an issue I didn't receive, having just returned from vacation) is a statement from a McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney (ASA) that boils my oil.

Timothy S. Smith goes to trial on November 26, if the jury trial begins as presently scheduled. Case No. 11CF000520 is set for 10:00AM in Courtroom 302, that of Judge Condon.

Michael Combs, ASA and Chief of the Criminal Division of the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office, is quoted in Saturday's paper as having said, "It's not that complicated of a case."

Oh, really?

The charges against Smith are 1. Murder; 2. Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm; 3. Pandering; 4. Obstruction of Justice; and 5. Pimping.

Now, just how is this "not that complicated of a case"?

Is the State's Attorney's Office going for the throat on all five charges? Or will they just try for a conviction on the Obstruction of Justice charge and throw away the other four?

Kimberly Holian Smith, wife of Timothy Smith, is charged with numerous crimes, and her trial is now set for December 3. Her lawyers, the firm of Donahue & Walsh, claim a scheduling conflict.

There must be a "chess game" going on to get one tried before the other. Kimberly's case was set for November 5, before it was changed. Which case would the State's Attorney prefer to try first?

Kimberly is charged with 1. Obstruction of Justice (2 counts); 2. Prostitution; and 3. False Report of Offense.

Now, again, just how are these cases "not that complicated"? Of course, they are complicated.

If you think they aren't complicated, then why bother to try them. They are complicated, and they must be treated as complicated. The State's Attorney's Office had better be burning the midnight oil to close all the loopholes, or it will lose these cases. The track record hasn't been too good lately.

Just what depth of investigation was done by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department to determine the full story about the night of May 28, 2011? What happened one week, two weeks, four weeks before that fateful Saturday night when Kurt Milliman was shot and died in the Smith house, just south of Centegra Hospital - Woodstock on Doty Road? What contact was there, if any, between either Smith (or both) and Kurt before May 28, 2011?

Why did the Smiths delay calling 9-1-1, if Timothy had shot Kurt in self-defense, as Timothy Smith's attorney (Public Defender Kim Messer) apparently told the Northwest Herald for that article? How long did they delay? In fact, did Timothy Smith get in his truck and drive away from the house after shooting Kurt, in order to try to establish an false scenario? Is that what the Obstruction of Justice charges are about?

Timothy Smith was charged with Murder. Why was Kimberly Smith never charged as an accessory?

The Kurt Milliman homicide was McHenry County's first homicide of 2011. Was everything at the crime scene done by the book?

Why didn't Sheriff Nygren hold a press conference following the first homicide that the Sheriff's Department handled in 2011? Ten days later he was very quick to hold one on the very next day after a triple homicide near Marengo.