Mills' attorneys want change of venue for trial

Saturday, July 19, 2008

By Tommy Witherspoon

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Attorneys for former Downtown Waco Inc. director Margaret Mills say she can’t get a fair trial in McLennan County and asked a judge Friday to transfer her case out of Waco.

Mills’ change of venue motion was among several other more routine motions considered by 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson during a 10-minute pretrial hearing in Mills’ first-degree felony theft case Friday.

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New photos from Friday's hearing

Document: Read the change of venue motion

Johnson has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 3 at which he will revisit the request to move Mills’ trial out of McLennan County. Her attorneys, Rick Bostwick and Pat Beard, allege in the motion that publicity about her theft case has been “constant, extensive, excessive and widespread.”

If the judge rejects the motion or carries it over to gauge prospective jurors’ attitudes about the case, jury selection in Mills’ trial is set to begin Sept. 22.

News accounts have created “so great a prejudice against the defendant that the defendant cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial” in McLennan County, the motion alleges.

“At least in my 30 years (the news coverage) is unprecedented for this type of case,” Bostwick said, addressing the news media after the hearing. “Not that anybody is doing anything other than their job, but I think it will be very difficult if not impossible to empanel a jury that has not been so inundated with information related to the case that they come in with some preconceptions. Certainly, the whole idea of the jury system is that we get to start with a blank slate.”

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Assistant Attorney General David S. Glickler, who is prosecuting the case because McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest recused his office, declined comment after the brief hearing.

Mills, 67, was indicted on felony theft charges in November in the alleged theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars while serving as head of the downtown civic development organization.

Bostwick said that only the 1982 Lake Waco triple murder case and the Branch Davidian case have garnered as much or more news coverage than Mills’ case. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. moved the criminal trial of 11 Branch Davidians charged with killing and wounding federal agents in February 1993 from Waco to San Antonio. However, a civil trial in which Branch Davidian survivors sued the federal government was tried in Waco.

The last criminal defendant whose case was transferred from 54th State District Court was serial killer Kenneth Allen McDuff. His capital murder case was moved to Houston in 1993, where he received the death penalty. He has since been executed.

Bostwick supported his motion for a change of venue with affidavits from Mills, former Waco City Council member Maurice Labens and former Tribune-Herald managing editor Barbara Elmore, who also contend Mills cannot receive a fair trial in Waco.

Bostwick said he hopes to move the trial to a county in Central Texas.

Glickler told the judge Friday that he would not seek a ruling on the only pretrial motion he has filed — a request to restrict evidence in the first phase of Mills’ trial about restitution that was paid on her behalf before she was indicted for felony theft.

Downtown Waco’s board received a restitution check for $70,000 in September 2006 that was written on an account from the former law firm of Mills’ husband, Coke Mills.

Bostwick declined comment about the restitution check.

“I wasn’t involved in representing her at that time,” he said.

The other pretrial motions considered Friday included routine discovery motions, including the production of prosecution witness lists. Most of the items have already been complied with or will be in an agreement between Glickler and Mills’ lawyers.

Mills, who is free on $25,000 bond, remained in the courtroom for 10 minutes after the hearing ended, telling Beard, “I can’t walk out there past all those TV cameras. This is ridiculous.”

“I’m sure she is ready to get it over with, and I’m sure there is anxiety associated with the process,” Bostwick said. “It has been a long, hard time for her and her family.”

Mills is charged in a 16-page, 116-paragraph indictment with embezzling more than $200,000, the amount at which a theft case becomes a first-degree felony.

Glickler has said that Mills reportedly stole about $511,000 from the nonprofit organization since at least April 2003. She reportedly took checks from outside organizations on behalf of Downtown Waco Inc. and deposited those checks into her personal accounts or those she controlled.

The indictment alleges she deposited 116 checks into her personal accounts.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

757-5737

Comments

By Allen

Aug 5, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this

When are we going to seek/obtain restitution from the Board of Oafs...whoops, Directors and the insurance company that covered the organization?

By Lynn

Aug 4, 2008 11:23 PM | Link to this

She needs to have the trial here. She needs to be treated like the ones at hwy 6 have been treated. She should be behind bars without bond and no walk through.

By Lynn Porter

Aug 4, 2008 11:15 PM | Link to this

I think she shoud have her trial here since she stole the money from here. It's bad enough that she is out walking and not at Hwy 6 with the others that have stole lesser then her and don't get a bond or a walk through. she needs to be treated like the other criminals and put behind bars.

By null

Aug 3, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

She is a thief and should be treated no different than any other criminal, it should stay right here in Waco, she stole from Waco and she should be tried and convicted in Waco.

By ThinkAbout It

Jul 31, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this

To Wake Up Waco, think about a few other things. Margaret Mills and her husband have worked in politics all over the state. It wouldn't be that difficult for her attorneys to agree to a out of county judge who is friendly to Mills with the Assistant AG over the case being any the wiser that the judge is a "friendly" judge to Mills.

Yes, the judges her in Waco could be just as "friendly", but these judges will still have to answer to Waco voters, where an out of county judge doesn't.

Keep the Mills trial here.

By Sandra

Jul 28, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this

She shouldn't get any special treatment! If anything, it should be worse. She was trusted to help revitalize downtown Waco. It seems like it is doing better now that she is gone. She should go to prison just like a regular citizen of Waco would. She isn't any better than anyone else. In fact, she is worse. A wolf in sheeps clothing.

By bj

Jul 26, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this

This women should NOT get any special treatment what-so-ever! Because of her being married to a longtime Waco lawyer, having money and access to more lawyer money (friends or her own), her previous position and contacts in Waco now that seem very embrassing to many ... she's already being treated more favorably that John Doe off the street ... certainly more so that a minority person or where wealth is a factor. NO MORE SPECIAL TREATMENT ... AND KEEP THE TRIAL IN WACO - WHERE HER POSSIBLE ACTIONS HAD THEIR GREATEST EFFECT.

By ELIZABETH

Jul 25, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this

She should have a jury of her peers, that means keeping her right here in Waco where she committed the crime.

By brazos bully

Jul 24, 2008 3:45 AM | Link to this

Makes you wonder how long the ole boy will stand by her side seeing how she has made him the laughing stock of Waco. You know he just wants to btch slap her. Of course she might have so much
on him he has no choice but to stick with her to the bitter end.

By michael

Jul 22, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

There's not a doubt in my mind that Margaret screwed up royally and IS screwed up royally. Hers are not the actions of a woman in full possession of her mental faculties. What she needs is help from mental health professionals NOT a lengthy prison term. She's already ruined as far as any quality of life goes in this unforgiving town. Kind of makes you wonder about all the so called christians that are in on Margaret's lynch mob. I say give her 10 years probation, make her seek psychiatric help, have her tie a rag around her exquisite coiff and shovel some poop at the zoo, make restitution by whatever legal means possible, and never ever let her near a credit card or checkbook again as long as she lives. The withdrawal from her shopping addiction alone will probably kill her. Putting her in the slammer will only cost the taxpayers about 40K a year for the rest of her life so let's do the math...she embezzeled about a half a mill...and let's say she gets 10 years at 40k a year and with adjustments for inflation I'd say the total bill will top out at around a cool million bucks. Locking up Margaret is just throwing good money after bad.

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