Part of Defamation Lawsuit Against Patch Blogger Dismissed

One half of the defamation lawsuit against a Yorkville Patch blogger has been dropped.

Todd Milliron and former Kendall County chief judge James Wilson appeared in court Monday to address a lawsuit regarding comments made by Milliron in his Yorkville Patch blog entry "The 9mm Buddy Badge and other Unknown Badge Holders at Kendall County Coroner’s Office."

The blog, which was part of a series focusing on the 2012 Kendall County Coroners Race, said Wilson did not do any work at his position of deputy coroner, and also was able to carry a concealed firearm that was paid for by citizens of Kendall County.

Wilson filed a lawsuit and accused Milliron of defamation, and Milliron filed a suit to dismiss the claims.

According to audio obtained from WSPY, Milliron's attorney, John Skawski, said at the hearing that the article was made up of factually-based information from FOIA requests and other information from the county. 

Skawski called Milliron's blog entry "conditional or qualified privilege" because they were of interest to the public and informed them about the coroner's office.

Wilson's attorney said there was no conditional privilege and that Milliron made "false and defamatory statements", that were not related to the coroner's position or the election.

"[It was] a personal attack with the intent to defame and discredit and bring [Wilson] to disrepute," said Wilson's attorney, according to the WSPY recording. 

Judge Robert Pilmer approved the movement by Milliron of qualified privilige to dismiss, but Skawski only used that motion for one of the two counts and will have to file a second motion to dismiss the second account of defamation, according to WSPY. 

Wilson's attorney also received approval to re-file the suit using a different approach.

Milliron and Wilson will appear in court sometime in January.