re: Darius Miles

Motion Filed To Suppress Statements Made By Miles After Shooting

Here's the latest in the capital murder case against former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles.


Defense attorneys for former Alabama basketball player and capital murder suspect Darius Miles filed a motion Sunday requesting the suppression of statements made by Miles prior to his arrest following the Jan. 15 shooting death of a Birmingham woman.

As Patch previously reported, Miles and his childhood friend Michael Lynn Davis, were charged with capital murder after 23-year-old Jamea Harris was shot and killed in a shootout between Davis and Harris' boyfriend Cedric Johnson.

Davis allegedly used the handgun legally owned by Miles and was shot twice in the fatal shooting. The case attracted worldwide attention following news of other Alabama basketball players at the scene of the early morning shooting on Grace Street — most notably freshman standout and future No. 2 overall NBA selection Brandon Miller.

On Sunday, defense attorneys Mary Turner, Kayla Griffin and Grace Prince of the Turner Law Group filed the motion to suppress statements Miles provided during multiple police interviews in the hours immediately following the shooting.

For instance, the Turner Law Group asserts that during an interview lasting over four hours conducted at the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit headquarters, investigator Jeffrey Miller told Miles the following:

"I got to read you something called your rights, okay? You’re not under arrest, it’s just a procedural thing we do because somebody was murdered. Alright, I’m just gonna be straight up with you, alright, somebody was murdered last night. I mean, I think you know that already, alright, but that person passed away, and so, procedurally, I’m gonna read you your rights, okay?”

The Turner Law Group argues that any statements prior to Miles being read his Miranda rights are inadmissible in the state's capital murder case against him.

"It is a basic principle of criminal law that Miranda warnings are given to a suspect?who is in custody," the defense attorneys said in the filing. "Miranda warnings are not a 'procedural thing' done every time someone 'passes away' or even is 'murdered.'"

What's more, the Turner Law Group also said the Violent Crimes Unit investigator read Miles his Miranda rights, before asking for his "autograph" and "if he was going to put his basketball jersey number beside his signature?"

After hours of interrogation, Miller then allegedly had Miles repeat the "unwarned, illegally obtained" statements made prior to first being read his Miranda rights.

Defense attorneys say the investigator did not take any additional measures to cure the previously unwarned, illegally obtained statements. The Turner Law Group asserts that, because of this, statements provided by Miles after he was read his rights were not knowingly and voluntarily obtained.

Instead, Turner insists that the investigators used the illegally obtained statements to confront Miles about his involvement in the shooting.

"Miller’s 'question first' strategy and use of mid-stream Miranda warnings violated Darius’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination," the Turner Law Group says in the latest filing.

The motion comes almost two weeks ahead of the pre-trial immunity hearing resuming for Miles after issues with timing, evidence, and witnesses in August.

The hearing is set to resume on Sept. 29.

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What's more, the Turner Law Group also said the Violent Crimes Unit investigator read Miles his Miranda rights, before asking for his "autograph" and "if he was going to put his basketball jersey number beside his signature?"

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Bro what...

Immunity hearing resumed today

Both Sides Rest In Self-Defense Hearing For Darius Miles

Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet says he will issue his order on the matter "soon."

Tuscaloosa Patch put out a full breakdown of the pre-trial self-defense hearing so far. Pretty good write up. Miles' defense filed their arguments this week and the DA now needs to respond.

LINK

Darius Miles, ex-Alabama basketball player denied dismissal of capital murder charge

Judge Daniel F. Pruet denied a motion to dismiss the capital murder charge against former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles on Thursday, per court documents.

A pre-trial immunity hearing was held over three days in Tuscaloosa over the span of about a month in which the defense argued that Miles should be immune from prosecution because he acted in self-defense on Jan. 15 leading up to the fatal shooting of Jamea Harris on the Strip. Miles was indicted by a grand jury in March and charged with capital murder alongside Michael Davis, both of whom have been jailed without bond since Jan. 15. Investigators said the gun used to kill Harris belonged to Miles, 21, but that Davis, 21, pulled the trigger. Miles has pled not guilty.

Pruet repeatedly wrote in the ruling that the defense "failed to establish that (Miles) reasonably feared for his safety."

"The defendant failed to establish that he reasonably believed that anyone inside the Jeep was using or about to use deadly physical force or that they were committing or about to commit Assault in the 1st Degree or Assault in the 2nd Degree," Pruet wrote at the end of the 10-page ruling. "Accordingly, the Defendant's Motion is Denied."

Pruet noted Miles told investigators he saw a gun passed back in the Jeep that contained Harris, her boyfriend Cedric Johnson and her cousin, Asia Humphrey. But Pruet noted how no evidence was presented to him that Miles claimed to have been scared or threatened, "and he did not claim that anyone pointed the gun at him," Pruet wrote.

What's next in Darius Miles capital murder case?
The next big step in the case with Miles being denied immunity is either a plea agreement or a trial. More bond hearings could also be possible.

LINK

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Miles is accused of knowingly providing his legally owned handgun to Davis to be used in the commission of a violent crime.

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All he has to say is he didn't know how it was going to be used. How could they possibly prove he intended for the gun to be used to kill someone?

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In response, the Turner Law Group filed last week for a new bond hearing for Miles, along with setting a hearing date for the defense's motion to suppress statements Miles gave investigators before being read his Miranda rights on the morning of Jan. 15. This comes after the state said it would not seek the death penalty in the case.

Both hearings will now be held on Feb. 22, 2024.

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February, huh? How many questions will that piece of garbage reporter ask our players about this?

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All he has to say is he didn't know how it was going to be used. How could they possibly prove he intended for the gun to be used to kill someone?

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They don't have to prove that he intended for the gun to kill someone.

Alisondb Link: 13A-2-2(2)

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(2) KNOWINGLY. A person acts knowingly with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists.

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However, even if they did have to prove "intent" it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card for him to say he didn't know it was going to be used to kill someone. Intent can be shown by the circumstances surrounding the act.

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The presence of one at the commission of a felony by another is evidence to be considered in determining whether or not he was guilty of aiding and abetting; and it has also been held that presence, companionship, and conduct before and after the offense are circumstances from which one's participation in the criminal intent may be inferred.

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Gibson v. State, 49 Ala. App. 18, 20, 268 So. 2d 49, 51 (1972) (internal quotes and citation omitted).

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Eh...this seems like a stretch. There was no felony committed until someone started shooting. If we're using this logic, everyone in the car should also be charged.

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Those aren't my words... those are the words of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. And, yes, they could be, depending upon the other surrounding facts and circumstances.

You’re exactly right. It’s time for people to start protesting against the district attorney’s office. This is truly an injustice playing out before our eyes.