Judge wants more info about board action in Hyde case

A Lake County judge said Wednesday he may allow an Island Lake village board resolution seemingly designed to undercut the criminal case against a politically connected employee to be used as evidence in her trial.

In March, the board passed a resolution declaring that Sharon Hyde, the wife of former Mayor Thomas Hyde, was a salaried employee who was never required to fill out time sheets to get paid.

The move came months after Sharon Hyde was indicted on charges she collected more than $100,000 in pay for hours she did not work as director of a village-operated day-care center and just two weeks after Circuit Judge Fred Foreman refused to dismiss the case against her.

On Wednesday, Hyde's defense attorneys, Charles Smith and Brian Smith of Waukegan, asked Foreman to reconsider his decision on the dismissal of the case in light of the resolution.

Assistant State's Attorney Jason Grindel denounced the resolution as "a very conveniently timed, biased political document," that should play no role in the criminal case.

"A partisan political body cannot provide absolution for criminal conduct," Grindel said. "We believe it would be bad public policy to allow a partisan political body to influence the courts in this way."

Brian Smith argued that the resolution showed the board, which voted 4-0 to approve the motion after three trustees walked out of the meeting at which it was adopted, was a unanimous act by the board.

"I do not know how it (the resolution) can be biased when no one voted against it," Smith said. "The resolution was passed by the alleged victim of this crime; the victim is saying it did not happen."

In July 2009, Sharon Hyde was charged with collecting $114,000 in pay between 1999 and 2009 for hours she did not work as director of Creative Playtime Preschool, a position she still holds with the village.

Prosecutors said at the time they planned to use time sheets filled out by Hyde that showed she was working during times the school was closed as part of the evidence against her.

Her husband was charged at the same time with assisting in the ghost-payrolling scheme by voting to approve the payments to his wife, but those charges were later dismissed.

On Feb. 24, Foreman rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case against Sharon Hyde, and the resolution was passed 15 days later.

Foreman said Wednesday the resolution might be evidence the defense could use in Sharon Hyde's trial, but that he wanted to know more about it.

The judge said the Smiths would have to call the village officials who passed the resolution to testify about how it was drawn up and passed before he could decide if it was relevant to the case.

Island Lake Trustee Don Saville was one of the three officials who left the boardroom in March rather than vote on the resolution. In a telephone interview after Wednesday's court session, Saville stood by his decision to walk out rather than vote, calling the document "a sham."

He said the document was put together by Mayor Debbie Herrmann and her allies on the board to aid Hyde's defense. Herrmann is a friend of Sharon Hyde's and a political ally of Thomas Hyde.

In a separate interview, Herrmann said the village's attorney, not her or the trustees, crafted the resolution. She agreed with Brian Smith's description that the resolution showed the board supports Hyde and does not believe she committed a crime against the village.

"That's what the resolution is, in effect, for," Herrmann said.

Assistant State's Attorney Christen Bishop said she did not believe prosecutors would have to prove Hyde was an hourly employee to make the case against her.

"All of our charges against her say that she obtained the money by 'deception,'" Bishop said. "It does not matter if she was hourly or salaried if we can establish that the money was obtained through deceit."

After the hearing concluded, Charles Smith said the defense was "definitely" planning to subpoena village officials to testify about the resolution at a future hearing.

Foreman ordered the parties to return to court Sept. 21 so that further hearings on the matter could be scheduled.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Russell Lissau contributed to this report.