Attorney Believes Case Against Former Milan Clerk-Treasurer Should Be Dismissed

Friday, March 15, 2019 at 10:48 AM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

Eagle Country 99.3 told you about the case against a former Milan Clerk-Treasurer. Now Dale Holbert's defense attorney says he wants the charges dropped.

(Milan, Ind.) - The defense attorney for a former Town of Milan clerk-treasurer says the court should dismiss the charges against his client.

Jud McMillin is the attorney for Dale Holbert. Holbert was charged in February with one count of Violation of the Depository Rule (level 5 felony), two counts of Violation of the Depository Rule (level 6 felony), and three counts of Official Misconduct (level 6 felony).

The charges were filed nearly five years after Holbert resigned from office in March 2014 as an Indiana State Board of Accounts audit of the town’s finances were conducted. The audit determined many checks to the town were not deposited in a timely manner and little to no records were kept during Holbert’s 13 months in the clerk’s office.

The SBOA’s report on the audit was not formally completed until November 21, 2016.

“All this stuff is really retroactive stuff. It’s not things that at the time anybody was pointing at this guy saying ‘You’re doing a terrible job’ and forcing him out,” McMillin tells Eagle Country 99.3.

McMillin says, as with any criminal case, there is still much information to be uncovered. What he expects to be found as the case develops is that Holbert fell short of “ridiculous statutes.”

“I don’t think he stole anything. When he took over that place, it was a complete mess. It may have been an insurmountable task to try and fix then,” McMillin adds.

McMillin filed on March 4 a motion asking Special Judge Jonathan Cleary of Dearborn County to dismiss Holbert’s case. The Brookville-based defense attorney argues the State of Indiana is using “defective charging informations” which do not state the offenses with sufficient certainty, thus violating due process. He also believes the state’s case, which was filed last month about five years after Holbert left office, is untimely brought.

Cleary has scheduled an April 12 hearing to consider the motion to dismiss.