Assistant state's attorney disqualified from bond reduction hearing

DIXON – A Lee County assistant state's attorney talked his way out of being involved in an accused murderer's bond reduction hearing Thursday.

Whether Matt Klahn can continue to represent the state during Terry E. Bobell's case will be determined next month. So, too, will the fate of a request to have Bobell's $1 million bond lowered.

Bobell is one of three men charged with first-degree murder in the 1983 beating death of 30-year-old Gary D. Dawson of Peoria, whose body was found in rural Lee County, near Franklin Grove. His brother, Gordon K. Bobell, 65, also of Chillicothe, already already had his $1 million lowered to $300,000 on Jan. 13, and he posted the required 10 percent the same day. Steven Watts, 58, of Berryville, Arkansas, has been free on $100,000 bond since Sept. 27, 2014.

Judge Ron Jacobson disqualified Klahn from representing the state at Thursday's bond reduction hearing following questions that legally made him a witness to Terry Bobell's December arrest. Bobell, 69, appeared with attorney Paul Whitcombe.

In a courtroom packed with Bobell's family, friends, and others waiting for their cases to be heard, Klahn vehemently disagreed with Bobell's testimony under cross examination, casting doubt on his argument that he had not been aware of the reason for his arrest.

Bobell testified that he was not immediately informed that the arrest stemmed from a 1983 cold case murder, and seemed oblivious to any sort of connection to the killing.

He also said he wasn't aware of any of the other defendants in the case, and has not had any contact with his brother for a year.

​“[Then] why on earth would you put [Gordon Bobell and his wife] on the visitors list at the jail?” Klahn asked.

Bobell fired back about the confusion, insecurity and panic surrounding the circumstances of his arrest, and not knowing why he was arrested.

The reason why those family members were on the list, he said, was because he simply added everyone he could think of. Klahn again disputed the notion that Bobell could be so oblivious.

Klahn challenged Bobell, repeating Bobell's words back to him: Klahn said he was present when Terry Bobell was arrested and that he said, "Is this from all that sh-- with my brother?"

That's when Jacobson stepped in, warning Klahn about the line of questioning.

Whitcombe, however, immediately requested Klahn's removal. Both sides went into a brief, closed-door session with the judge. When they emerged, Jacobson ended the hearing, but stopped short of removing Klahn from the case entirely.

The bond reduction hearing was continued to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Because of scheduling issues, and to avoid further delay, Judge Jacquelyn Ackert will preside over that hearing.

"It was a misunderstanding. I am not a witness," Klahn told Sauk Valley Media after the hearing. He did not provide any further details, but said the state will ask to strike the question from the record and move forward.

Klahn's boss, Lee County State's Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller, said in an email that the decision whether to remove Klahn from the case rests with the judge's ruling, and a consensus between the two offices.

Klahn, of Sterling, is one of three Republican candidates for Lee County state's attorney in the March 15 primary. Michael Downey of Nachusa and William Brozovich of Dixon also will be on the ballot. There are no Democrats running in the primary. Sacco-Miller will not be seeking a second term.

Also on Thursday, the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor was appointed as co-counsel, before the bond reduction hearing.