KINGWOOD — The State Supreme Court has denied Kevin Monroe Miller II’s request for a new trial.
Miller, 30, of Newburg, was convicted by a jury in 2018 of two counts of wanton endangerment. He was later convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
All the charges were in connection to an October 2016 incident at his parents’ home. He and his father each shot, during an alleged argument over the younger Miller’s child, who was at the home. Miller wounded his father.
Miller and the child’s mother do not have custody of the toddler, according to the opinion. Under the custody order in place at the time, Miller had a right to supervised visits with the child. His parents also had visitation rights.
Under that order, Miller could not remove the child from his parents’ property during visits.
Miller’s attorney, Lisa Hyre, sought to have the verdict thrown out and a new trial for Miller, based on four errors she said Preston County circuit court made.
The circuit court should not have denied Miller’s initial motion for acquittal because the state failed to prove he wasn’t acting in self-defense, she argued.
The state court notes that in his own testimony, Miller said he “reached his vehicle, which was parked around the corner of a building separate from the Miller home,” got his gun and returned to fire shots.
The circuit court also violated Miller’s Sixth Amendment rights and erred when it did not suppress statements Miller made, the appeal argues. Hyre said that the statements were taken in violation of Miller’s Miranda rights and his Fifth Amendment right to an attorney.
The state court said it is not disputed that Miller spoke voluntarily with police. A Preston deputy testified under oath that he read Miller his rights, there was body cam footage of Miller being read his rights and Miller signed the Miranda form.
Finally, the appeal argues that the circuit court should have allowed Miller to call psychologist Dr. William Fremouw as a expert witness in his defense. But nothing was provided to the state court to show that Miller asked the lower court to admit the doctor’s testimony, according to the opinion.
The State Supreme Court upheld all the Preston circuit court’s actions in the case. The opinion was issued Monday.
