On Brandon Miller

[SkyPrince1]

I can tell you who is FOS if you believe he had no knowledge of what was going to happen.

Gut feeling doesn't matter.
There's no hard evidence against Miller.
If there was a call between Miller and Miles that would be different or if he texted back.
No video evidence that he blocked anyone in.
No motive to engage in criminal activity since he was no part of the conflict.
The whole gun/clothes thing is a mystery.
No one knows yet why Miles brought clothes with him much less a gun.

 

[blubo]

I thought I did by posting the officers testimony and then linking the article if you or others still had doubts….. Do you have another update?

Police testimony seems to be completely ignored.

 

[indianskid7220]

Clearly the testimony is irrelevant to some. I for one place a higher value on police testimony than a possibly edited or redacted video surveillance. If the surveillance is in fact out, I would love to see someone link it.

 

[KYCAT78]

Gut feeling doesn't matter.
There's no hard evidence against Miller.
If there was a call between Miller and Miles that would be different or if he texted back.
No video evidence that he blocked anyone in.
No motive to engage in criminal activity since he was no part of the conflict.
The whole gun/clothes thing is a mystery.
No one know yet why Miles brought clothes with him much less a gun.

Miles probably had clothes because he had been kicked off the team and out of school.

I know we have different opinions on his involvement, but, I just believe he should not be on the team. I can tell you I was on a Federal Grand Jury for 6 months and if they would have indicted him I would have voted for him to stand trial. I cannot speak for my fellow jurors.

 

[ZagfanCA]

Should have let grand jury see all evidence and decide.

 

[WallMashKyBall]

Pasting this from a reply, because I guarantee the same discussion will come up each time Bama wins a game.

Attorney here. Licensed in multiple states, including Alabama. This may not be a popular take, and I probably will be excoriated for it. What do you want to happen? Do you to kill the kid? There has been a lot of misinformation about the incident. Brandon Miller was not going to a “club,” which some extrapolated to mean a strip club. It is the name of a restaurant in Tuscaloosa. The line was long, he dropped the shooter off and said he would collect him later. There is no evidence at all that he even read the text message, and his fingerprints were not on the gun. As soon as shots were fired, Miller himself took the vehicle to Tuscaloosa PD. If you think police are willing to risk pension and benefits to give preferential treatment to an athlete, you do not understand how society works. As it relates to prosecutors, they risk disbarment if they do not vigorously go after each case. There is nothing here. It was a tragedy. From a legal, there is no argument to be made. I guess you can say the school should have done something, but for what? As much as the “wrong place, wrong time” comments seemed out of line, in a sense Oats is write. Read all the pleadings. This sanctimonious take, compounded by our Bama hatred (I die Kentucky blue) is just a weird, obsessive position. It is done. Complaining on this board will not bring the victim back. She should be alive, but that does not Brandon Miller should be in jail or not playing. As a UK fan, I can say that it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through this. As human beings who want vengeance, we can’t accept the fact that he got through this, and even more so that he is thriving. What does Brandon Miller have to do with those shirts? What does Brandon Miller have to do with Oats’ comments? I think the Vanderbilt fans screaming “murderer,” when they could less of a damn about the young woman who was killed, is the real grotesque situation. We need to check ourselves. As someone who loves Clay Travis, I lost so much respect for his need to issue a “hot take” without even researching the minutiae of the case, especially as a licensed attorney. Posting on this board will not bring her back, as much as I wish it could. It will not stop Alabama. It will not Brandon Miller from earning millions. He has zero criminal background. I truly think he is not a bad human being.

You could use a copy editor for typos or you might be making grammar mistakes in multiple states.

 

[SkyPrince1]

When was the last time a high profile player on a team in the conference was this close to a murder?

You really think the SEC would step in and override a member schools handling of a legal matter.
Especially when that legal matter resulted in no charges.
Not only no charges but not even a suspect or person of interest in an investigation.
The DA painted Miller as a cooperating witness.
Sankey wouldn't touch that shit with a ten foot pole.

 

[indianskid7220]

I really feel like there are a select few, for unknown reasons, that can’t see past their bias. Everything I have read or seen shows he should have at least been presented to a grand jury.

 

[KYCAT78]

You really think the SEC would step in and override a member schools handling of a legal matter.
Especially when that legal matter resulted in no charges.
Not only no charges but not even a suspect or person of interest in an investigation.
The DA painted Miller as a cooperating witness.
Sankey wouldn't touch that shit with a ten foot pole.

Why do you think they painted him as a cooperating witness? That's the excuse they used to keep him playing.
And Sankey should not have stepped in UA should have done it.

 

[KYCAT78]

You really think the SEC would step in and override a member schools handling of a legal matter.
Especially when that legal matter resulted in no charges.
Not only no charges but not even a suspect or person of interest in an investigation.
The DA painted Miller as a cooperating witness.
Sankey wouldn't touch that shit with a ten foot pole.

We're you a OJ Simpson juror?

 

[SkyPrince1]

I really feel like there are a select few, for unknown reasons, that can’t see past their bias. Everything I have read or seen shows he should have at least been presented to a grand jury.

Not opposed to that.
I've served on a grand jury and there are different ways a case can be presented.
In cases like this, an arrest usually has happened and the arresting officer addresses the grand jury about what happened.
I know undercover work and child abuse work differently.
The details of Millers initial interaction with officers and subsequent questioning would shed a lot of light on why certain decisions were made that night.

 

[indianskid7220]

Going on this video surveillance thing again, I have searched YouTube over trying to find it to hopefully see the other side of this discussion. I have been unsuccessful, so if someone does have it for viewing, please post it.

If no one can find it or link it, then I would say all the talk about video proving he didn’t block the victim vehicle is coming from statements made by his own defense attorney. If we are putting blind faith in the words of a defense attorney, then this discussion is irrelevant because we all now defense attorney’s will say whatever they need to say, truth be damned.

 

[UKWILDCAT2004]

He might be 100% innocent of anything. He didn't even miss a minute of game action while any of this was sorted out. Meanwhile Terrence Jones missed a game or two after his minor car accident. We had multiple football players suspended while they sorted out a fight and they were exonerated. Thing is while all of this was figured out we had players miss game action but not Brandon Miller. A lady was killed and not one second a was missed by him. Just seems odd.

 

[indianskid7220]

Not opposed to that.
I've served on a grand jury and there are different ways a case can be presented.
In cases like this, an arrest usually has happened and the arresting officer addresses the grand jury about what happened.
I know undercover work and child abuse work differently.
The details of Millers initial interaction with officers and subsequent questioning would shed a lot of light on why certain decisions were made that night.

That is most certainly not true. In high profile cases like this, or officer involved in shooting which are also very high profile, it is common practice to have the case presented and let a grand jury make the decision. Saying an arrest usually happens and is then presented to grand jury is true in a lot of cases but it is definitely not the only way this is done.

 

[JRCAT14]

The whole gun/clothes thing is a mystery.
No one knows yet why Miles brought clothes with him much less a gun.

I read in one article early on that it was covered in the back seat by a hat. Then the wording changed to "clothes". Not saying that is the truth, just what I remember reading. I used to think journalism was a search for truth at least some of the time. The media is nothing but spin, propaganda and outright lies anymore.

 

[SkyPrince1]

We're you a OJ Simpson juror?

You think Miller would need Cochran to beat an accessory charge even if one had been levied.?

 

[SkyPrince1]

That is most certainly not true. In high profile cases like this, or officer involved in shooting which are also very high profile, it is common practice to have the case presented and let a grand jury make the decision. Saying an arrest usually happens and is then presented to grand jury is true in a lot of cases but it is definitely not the only way this is done.

That's what I said but I would think an officer would present an accessory charge to a grand jury and give an account of what he seen at the crime scene and what evidence he gathered to bring about the charge.

 

[jacobbleedsblue]

Weird that you're going to this effort to defend him.

People don't want him to die. He should be held accountable and shouldn't be playing basketball right now. You're literally crazy for thinking otherwise. Screw your supposed expertise on the matter.

Yeah what a weird false dichotomy. I haven't seen anybody calling for the kid's execution. I personally feel like I'd be in trouble with the law if I was in the same circumstance as the kid. That's the problem people have with it.

 

[KYCAT78]

Going on this video surveillance thing again, I have searched YouTube over trying to find it to hopefully see the other side of this discussion. I have been unsuccessful, so if someone does have it for viewing, please post it.

If no one can find it or link it, then I would say all the talk about video proving he didn’t block the victim vehicle is coming from statements made by his own defense attorney. If we are putting blind faith in the words of a defense attorney, then this discussion is irrelevant because we all now defense attorney’s will say whatever they need to say, truth be damned.

What I would like to see is where did the 2 shots that came through the windshield into his car? Were they from the gun that killed the lady or from somewhere else?

 

[indianskid7220]

What I would like to see is where did the 2 shots that came through the windshield into his car? Were they from the gun that killed the lady or from somewhere else?

The boyfriend of the victim allegedly returned fire in self defense. That was in the officer testimony as well I believe.

 

[indianskid7220]

That's what I said but I would think an officer would present an accessory charge to a grand jury and give an account of what he seen at the crime scene and what evidence he gathered to bring about the charge.

Ok. Maybe I misunderstood your post. I was confused by you saying usually an arrest happens and is then presented to grand jury. A direct indictment means no arrest was made, here’s the info grand jury now you can decide if we should arrest or not.

 

[SkyPrince1]

What I would like to see is where did the 2 shots that came through the windshield into his car? Were they from the gun that killed the lady or from somewhere else?

Supposedly from the boyfriend. He actually shot Davis in the shoulder.

 

[KYCAT78]

Supposedly from the boyfriend. He actually shot Davis in the shoulder.

And during this shootout Miller sat in his car instead of getting the hell out of there.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Ok. Maybe I misunderstood your post. I was confused by you saying usually an arrest happens and is then presented to grand jury. A direct indictment means no arrest was made, here’s the info grand jury now you can decide if we should arrest or not.

I'm familiar with direct indictment but I thought they were mainly used in drug bust/CI buys.
I wouldn't think an accessory charge would be presented via direct unless a third party came through with some damming information like a jilted girlfriend he made a confession to.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Going on this video surveillance thing again, I have searched YouTube over trying to find it to hopefully see the other side of this discussion. I have been unsuccessful, so if someone does have it for viewing, please post it.

If no one can find it or link it, then I would say all the talk about video proving he didn’t block the victim vehicle is coming from statements made by his own defense attorney. If we are putting blind faith in the words of a defense attorney, then this discussion is irrelevant because we all now defense attorney’s will say whatever they need to say, truth be damned.

Did you read the ESPN article?

 

[Untouchables22]

I haven’t seen anyone mention in the Miller conversation yet that playing for a Division 1 school is a PRIVILEGE not a right. And when you allow yourself to become embroiled in a murder situation by keeping the company of bad people perhaps you should have that privilege revoked for a time? Much like what is currently happening to Ja Morant in the NBA. I know NIL has muddied the waters and makes it seems like a job but it’s still a scholastic sponsored competition that is a privilege to participate in. That’s a higher standard to me and that’s why Miller not being suspended for any length of time up until now bothers me.

 

[indianskid7220]

Did you read the ESPN article?

Truth be told I have read several articles before today and a few today. I’m not sure which specific article you’re referring to, but I would welcome a link for discussion purposes.

In response to your other post above, direct indicts are used for narcotics investigations but are also used for other investigations as well. Including but not limited to high profile suspect cases.

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

Pasting this from a reply, because I guarantee the same discussion will come up each time Bama wins a game.

Attorney here. Licensed in multiple states, including Alabama. This may not be a popular take, and I probably will be excoriated for it. What do you want to happen? Do you to kill the kid? There has been a lot of misinformation about the incident. Brandon Miller was not going to a “club,” which some extrapolated to mean a strip club. It is the name of a restaurant in Tuscaloosa. The line was long, he dropped the shooter off and said he would collect him later. There is no evidence at all that he even read the text message, and his fingerprints were not on the gun. As soon as shots were fired, Miller himself took the vehicle to Tuscaloosa PD. If you think police are willing to risk pension and benefits to give preferential treatment to an athlete, you do not understand how society works. As it relates to prosecutors, they risk disbarment if they do not vigorously go after each case. There is nothing here. It was a tragedy. From a legal, there is no argument to be made. I guess you can say the school should have done something, but for what? As much as the “wrong place, wrong time” comments seemed out of line, in a sense Oats is write. Read all the pleadings. This sanctimonious take, compounded by our Bama hatred (I die Kentucky blue) is just a weird, obsessive position. It is done. Complaining on this board will not bring the victim back. She should be alive, but that does not Brandon Miller should be in jail or not playing. As a UK fan, I can say that it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through this. As human beings who want vengeance, we can’t accept the fact that he got through this, and even more so that he is thriving. What does Brandon Miller have to do with those shirts? What does Brandon Miller have to do with Oats’ comments? I think the Vanderbilt fans screaming “murderer,” when they could less of a damn about the young woman who was killed, is the real grotesque situation. We need to check ourselves. As someone who loves Clay Travis, I lost so much respect for his need to issue a “hot take” without even researching the minutiae of the case, especially as a licensed attorney. Posting on this board will not bring her back, as much as I wish it could. It will not stop Alabama. It will not Brandon Miller from earning millions. He has zero criminal background. I truly think he is not a bad human being.

Did miller hire a PR firm now? 😳

 

[docholiday51]

You really think the SEC would step in and override a member schools handling of a legal matter.
Especially when that legal matter resulted in no charges.
Not only no charges but not even a suspect or person of interest in an investigation.
The DA painted Miller as a cooperating witness.
Sankey wouldn't touch that shit with a ten foot pole.

Did I think they would? No. Someone should have made that call at least until things got sorted out. Alabama and the SEC dropped the ball in this situation early on.

In a subsequent post you say that you have experience serving on a GJ and what you say is correct cases are presented in different ways. I spent 37 years in Law enforcement, testified before countless GJ's, investigated cases and helped prepare cases for presentation to GJ's. All that being said Miller's status and situation relative to being charged or any GJ proceeding has almost nothing to do with his status representing a school on the basketball court. He had primary involvement in a shooting that took someone's life. From the moment Miller's involvement became known he should have been suspended as a matter of caution until such time that the facts of what he did or didn't do or know were more clear.

It is not in dispute that he brought the murder weapon to the scene and shots were fired within 10 minutes after he did that

 

[catzfanjim]

Alabama officials say there’s nothing to see here so let’s move ahead. I’m sure Miller is a fine young man. If you don’t believe me just ask his coach and AD.

 

[UKat1]

Watching from a distance, if any athlete was in possession of a weapon, without a license and was transporting it that caused a murder.....that's an accessory for this whole incident to take place. Was the gun a legitimately owned gun?
What steps am I missing? He brought him a pile of clothes but didn't know the gun was hidden? If you don't prosecute this against all involved parties, you just continue to deny we don't have a problem in our country.
It sure sounds like Miller knew there was a gun to be transported and he was the delivering the pizza.

The gun is legally registered to Miles, its not against the law to bring Your friend or relative their legally owned firearm....now if you knew beyond a doubt that it was fixing to be used in a murder, then that's another issue. But Miller claims he didn't know about it and definitely didn't know it was going to be used in a crime. Obviously there's no proof that he knew or he would've been charged.

 

[JRCAT14]

"It is not in dispute that he brought the murder weapon to the scene and shots were fired within 10 minutes after he did that"

Within 1 minute according to what I read.

 

[docholiday51]

Within 1 minute according to what I read.

I think it was within 3 to 5 but not sure. There is a released transcript that got the time pinned down pretty well. If you have ever been a police officer first on the scene of a homicide there is a lot of crap going on and a lot on your mind.

 

[wkycatfan]

At a minimum BM runs with the wrong crowd. Perhaps he didn't have the courage to tell Miles he wasn't going to be a part of this. Hard to say if it's something worse, but it has a smell.

 

[YouKay]

Her name is Jamea Harris.

 

[indianskid7220]

Her name is Jamea Harris.

Commonly referred to in this thread as the victim. Are you a “say her name” person or correcting someone’s misspelling? Genuinely asking so I can understand.

 

[KentuckyDad]

Pasting this from a reply, because I guarantee the same discussion will come up each time Bama wins a game.

Attorney here. Licensed in multiple states, including Alabama. This may not be a popular take, and I probably will be excoriated for it. What do you want to happen? Do you to kill the kid? There has been a lot of misinformation about the incident. Brandon Miller was not going to a “club,” which some extrapolated to mean a strip club. It is the name of a restaurant in Tuscaloosa. The line was long, he dropped the shooter off and said he would collect him later. There is no evidence at all that he even read the text message, and his fingerprints were not on the gun. As soon as shots were fired, Miller himself took the vehicle to Tuscaloosa PD. If you think police are willing to risk pension and benefits to give preferential treatment to an athlete, you do not understand how society works. As it relates to prosecutors, they risk disbarment if they do not vigorously go after each case. There is nothing here. It was a tragedy. From a legal, there is no argument to be made. I guess you can say the school should have done something, but for what? As much as the “wrong place, wrong time” comments seemed out of line, in a sense Oats is write. Read all the pleadings. This sanctimonious take, compounded by our Bama hatred (I die Kentucky blue) is just a weird, obsessive position. It is done. Complaining on this board will not bring the victim back. She should be alive, but that does not Brandon Miller should be in jail or not playing. As a UK fan, I can say that it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through this. As human beings who want vengeance, we can’t accept the fact that he got through this, and even more so that he is thriving. What does Brandon Miller have to do with those shirts? What does Brandon Miller have to do with Oats’ comments? I think the Vanderbilt fans screaming “murderer,” when they could less of a damn about the young woman who was killed, is the real grotesque situation. We need to check ourselves. As someone who loves Clay Travis, I lost so much respect for his need to issue a “hot take” without even researching the minutiae of the case, especially as a licensed attorney. Posting on this board will not bring her back, as much as I wish it could. It will not stop Alabama. It will not Brandon Miller from earning millions. He has zero criminal background. I truly think he is not a bad human being.

Kids a dawg. In the heat of being tied into a murder case, he has a historic game. If only we had guys like that.

 

[WildcatFan60]

I will chime in as well. My opinion really pertains more to Kentucky law since that’s what I know very well. Again just my opinions.

He provided a firearm which was then used in the commission of a crime. Knowingly providing it for the crime or not is a defense for trial, it does not exclude the subject from prosecution. Therefore he should be charged with complicity or facilitation to murder (Kentucky laws). The complicity/facilitation lowers it one level on the felony scale so instead of an A felony, he could be convicted of a B felony.

The gun being in a pile of clothes is a defense also, not an excuse from prosecution. The text is pretty damning from what I understand. The text alone is probably enough Probable Cause, but I’m sure there is GPS/cell phone location data that would corroborate the firearm being transported to him.

This “attorney” saying athletes are not given special treatment is laughable. I know first hand athletes in two Kentucky cities have been charged and those charges amended or dismissed outright even before the first court appearance. I also know athletes that would have been charged with felonies but the officers were told to stand down by the powers that be.

Anyone who says otherwise is not in anyway involved in law enforcement or criminal prosecution in a high level athletics college town.

Yes athletes get special treatment all over. Talk to Jim Lowry some time...

 

[cats2010]

So if he comes back and Miles starts rummaging through his clothes, you do not think you would ask what are you looking for? If he didn't ask don't you think you would see the gun when he finds it because you would probably be watching him search. This all assumes he never saw text which most rational people know is BS. What kind of car was he driving? Does the car post and read texts on the dash screen? If you want no part of what is about to happen do you not think you would leave immediately upon Miles retrieval of the gun? The facts are what law enforcement and DA want them to be because too many things contradict what a reasonable man would conclude.

Again you are speculating with your own version of events and how they took place. It is quite possible that miles opened the back door, grabbed his gun and shut the door all within a matter of 2-3 seconds. Miles left his gun in the car just a few hours earlier so he knew exactly where it was. Again I don’t know and not going to pretend I know but not going to portray Miller as a murderer with what little is known, Only thing that’s not debateabke here is Bama’s handling of this. It has been very poor and handled better proactively a lot of these discussions would not even be taking place.

 

[indianskid7220]

Again you are speculating with your own version of events and how they took place. It is quite possible that miles opened the back door, grabbed his gun and shut the door all within a matter of 2-3 seconds. Miles left his gun in the car just a few hours earlier so he knew exactly where it was. Again I don’t know and not going to pretend I know but not going to portray Miller as a murderer with what little is known, Only thing that’s not debateabke here is Bama’s handling of this. It has been very poor and handled better proactively a lot of these discussions would not even be taking place.

Part of the transcript is one individual telling another where the firearm is located. He describes it as in the hat and then informs him there is a round in the chamber. At least that’s my recollection from reading them earlier today. I don’t think the conversation involved Miller, but it was shortly after he arrived back in the parking lot.

Therefore, I believe a reasonable person would understand that conversation would have been easily heard by the driver of the vehicle with which the firearm was contained in. And this conversation would take more time than the 2-3 seconds you are describing.