Woodstock PD - Williams' case

Gus Philpott, The Woodstock Advocate
15 November 2016 (10:39 AM)

Thanks to a tip from a reader, I looked at this case today.

How did Woodstock PD or the McHenry County State's Attorney's office botch the case again Philip M. Williams, 30, after he was arrested at the end of August and found with 17 pounds of marijuana?

Oh, does Illinois have a new law allowing recreational use of marijuana? Seventeen pounds ought to provide for a lot of fun; right?

Williams was arrested in Woodstock.

On October 20 charges were nolle prossed in McHenry County Court. Now he, through his lawyer at Donahue & Walsh, is asking for the charges to be expunged. You know what that means; right? Erased from his record. Gone. Ancient history. Not even "history". Gone. Removed from the court records.

Exactly what happened between the time of arrest and October 20. What could his attorney have claimed?

There was a motion to dump Judge Prather from the case. Gee, imagine that.

And then Judge Feeterer threw the case out. WHY?

You'd hope the Northwest Herald would do some digging. Maybe today's article explains it, but I've hit my limit of free pages and cannot read the full article. Would someone like to summarize it? What pitch was made to Judge Feeterer on October 20?

Williams wants his car and the pot back and his record wiped clean. Should that really happen?

Presumably, his vehicle was impounded by the Woodstock Police and was subject to a $500 retrieval fee. Was that paid? The only way he can get the $500 back is, thanks for wording in the Woodstock ordinance, is for him to be found Not Guilty. So there would have to be a trial. There wasn't. He wasn't found Nor Guilty. Will Woodstock hang onto the $500?

On January 4, 2017, the expungement hearing will be back in Judge Prather's court. Will her nose be out-of-joint over being replaced in the case?

If you want a copy of the court activity, better make it now. Go to www.mchenrycircuitclerk.org and search for the defendant's name. If the record is expunged, it'll be gone from the records, all of the records.