Judge rejects second attempt to dismiss Hyde case

A Lake County judge on Friday declined to hear defense attorneys for Sharon Hyde argue for the second time that the theft and official misconduct charges against her should be dismissed.

Hyde, 60, the wife of former Island Lake mayor Thomas Hyde, is accused of collecting $114,000 in pay for hours she did not work as director of a village-run preschool.

Her attorneys, Charles and Brian Smith of Waukegan, asked Circuit Judge Fred Foreman to allow them to present testimony Friday to support their argument that Hyde should not be forced to stand trial on the charges.

The attorneys claimed false and misleading testimony was presented to the grand jury that indicted Hyde in 2009, and they should be allowed to argue that their client would not have been indicted if the grand jury had not been deceived.

“What we are talking about is due process,” Charles Smith told Foreman. “It is just the state and the grand jury (at the indictment process); there is no defense, there is no judge to govern the process.”

But Foreman said he already ruled on the matters Hyde’s team was raising, either at the first motion to dismiss the charges that was rejected in 2010 or at subsequent hearings.

Foreman has ruled at previous hearings that any errors made in testimony before the grand jury were not deliberate or sufficient to warrant dismissing of the charges.

“When all is said and done, this is a theft case,” Foreman said. “The simple question that was put before the grand jury was whether there was sufficient evidence to hold the defendant over for trial.”

Foreman said he would not allow any testimony on the motion, but told the Smiths their motion would be included in the record for appellate court review should Hyde be convicted.

A trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 17, but both sides indicated Friday that date is likely to change when they return to court Oct. 7.

If convicted of all charges in the case, Hyde would face a mandatory prison sentence of six to 30 years.