“Pretty quick turn around on an aggravated murder charge … too quick,” Bennett said. “You saw how long it took an aggravated murder case like Daniel French’s case to play out,” Bennett said, referring to the man convicted Thursday of killing 87-year-old Barbara Howe of Monroe. “Mr. Miller plead guilty in 11 days.”
Bennett said Miller did not get due process by law and his guilty plea should be withdrawn. He is requesting a hearing on the motion.
“Let’s try his case and treat him fairly,” Bennett said.
Bennett argues in his motion that Miller had been on a three day “binge” and was high on drugs at the time of his arrest — specifically Oxycontin and Xanax — and did not fully comprehend his legal rights. He also maintains that Miller was coerced into taking a plea deal, and that he was never allowed to see any of the evidence prosecutors had against him in the case.
“Because of my consumption of drugs, I do not remember how I got to or was taken to jail or the police stations,” Miller said in an affidavit filed with the motion. “I also do not remember the reading of any rights and I did not understand any of my rights.”
Miller said after his arrest, defense attorney Richard Hyde came to visit him in jail three times. During his second visit, which came after he was indicted, Miller said Hyde told him the prosecution was seeking the death penalty, but he had negotiated a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
“I asked Mr. Hyde what evidence the state had against me and if a motion for discovery and a motion to suppress could be filed on my behalf so I could determine whether to take a plea,” Miller said in the affidavit. “Mr. Hyde stated that ‘the judge granted a motion to suppress before and was crucified for being soft on crime,’ and therefore any motions on my behalf would be denied.”
Miller said he told Hyde he did not rob anyone and that the incident was not premeditated. He said he also told Hyde he wanted to go to trial.
“Before I signed the plea agreement I was not presented with or shown any evidence or documentation that I was actually charged with a death penalty case,” Miller said in the court document.
According to the Butler County Clerk of Courts Office, the indictment against Miller does not include a specification for the death penalty.
Bennett said there is no evidence that any work was done on Miller’s behalf in the case.
Hyde said he could not comment about discussions with Miller due to attorney client privilege. But he said he stood by his representation, noting Miller gave a “complete confession.”
“I saved him from death row,” Hyde said.
Prosecutors say the motion should be denied. Miller filed a self-serving affidavit, and he signed a plea form that clearly stated he understood the charges and was satisfied with his attorney, according to the response filed Thursday by Assistant Prosecutor Lina Alkamhawi.
Prosecutors said at the plea hearing that Miller went to Boyd’s home at the Woodridge Glen apartments on the night of April 18, knowing she had prescriptions of Oxycodone for pain from recent surgeries. Boyd was an avid BINGO player and that’s how she befriended Miller. He hit her on the head twice with a 10-pound dumbbell, causing “deep lacerations to her skull,” then he proceeded to slash her wrist in an attempt to make her death look like suicide.
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