State offers deal in Miller cases
A deal is on the table for Kenneth Miller Jr.
The 35-year-old Percy resident is facing charges of residential burglary, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, arson and burglary in two separate cases - which are being tracked at the same time.
"We have extended an offer that would resolve both cases," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "I cannot discuss the details of that offer, but we certainly made an offer for a global resolution."
The bulk of the charges are from Miller's first case earlier this year. He was arrested Jan. 31 after allegedly setting a house - which he co-owned with Jessica Miller - on fire on Green Street on Steeleville's east side and then leading police on a chase.
Miller later allegedly burglarized the Scuttle Inn Lounge at Pyramid Golf Course near Percy, before ultimately calling 911 to report he was the victim of a battery - which led to his arrest.
He is facing charges of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, arson and burglary in that case, and was freed from Randolph County Jail on bond on Feb. 24.
Miller then found himself back in jail on June 2, when he was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the residence of Dennis P. Ernsting on North Meadow Lane on Steeleville's north side.
According to Steeleville Police Chief Tyler Cleland, Miller allegedly gained access to the attached garage of the residence prior to being discovered by Ernsting, who held Miller at gunpoint until police arrived.
In a case management conference on Thursday, Miller's attorney on the January case - Thomas Mansfield - said only that the deal was "under discussion." Mansfield has filed a still-standing motion to suppress statements, including an alleged confession, his client made to police after the January arrest.
In court documents, Mansfield has claimed Miller - who appeared for last week's hearing with red hair opposed to the dark hair he had in both Randolph County Jail mugshots - was suffering from sleep deprivation when he was interviewed by police and did not fully understand his Miranda rights when he waived them.
"I typically don't date my offers, but the judge himself puts a limit on them," Walker said. "Once a case gets closer to trial, the judge says no more pleas.
"There will come a time when that no offer is no longer on the table, but we haven't reached that point yet."
Miller has a public defender, James Kelley, for the June 2 arrest and a preliminary hearing in that case was scheduled for June 19, but Miller waived his hearing and entered a plea of not guilty.
"My client has persisted in a request for a continuance in the case," Kelley told Judge Richard A. Brown during the Thursday hearing.
Brown granted the continuance and scheduled another hearing for July 20 at 9 a.m. Walker was asked about the possibility of a joint prosecution given the common denominator of the same defendant.
"There's no commonality between the two cases, so we would have to have two different trials," he said. "These would not be the type of cases we would join for prosecution because they're two completely separate and distinct acts."