A probation revocation hearing for Sam Miller, one of four men who took a plea deal for their involvement in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old male at a party on Lafayette Road in 2014, was continued in Christian Circuit Court Thursday for a plethora of reasons.
Miller did not appear in court Thursday, due to issues with transportation orders filed by a previous attorney, and new attorney Michael Thompson was unable to get in a transport request in time for this hearing. Assistant Attorney General Ramsey Dallam says that’s not the only issue, as a writ of prohibition has also been filed in the case.
Thompson moved to argue for having his client released from custody, but Judge John Atkins says if the court that remanded this hearing to his court is considering prohibiting him from presiding over it, that creates problems.
Thompson contends that his client should have been serving probation the last two years.
Ultimately, the judge denied the motion to release Miller and set a new revocation hearing for September 7 at 10 a.m.
Miller entered a guilty plea in August of 2016 to complicity to wanton endangerment, complicity to tampering with evidence and distribution of matter portraying a minor in a sex performance. The deal came with a 13-year sentence, but it was noted Miller would be eligible to apply for shock probation after a year and he was granted shock probation in August of 2017.
Miller allegedly violated conditions of his probation when he was arrested for DUI on Fort Campbell Boulevard in Oak Grove April 2021 and he was charged that June for having an empty liquor bottle in his car when stopped for violating noise regulations.
He later tested positive in June of 2021 for alcohol in his system and that preceded his arrest for probation violation. Judge Atkins revoked his probation in July of 2021, and then attorney Bill Deatherage appealed that decision, which was then vacated and remanded back to Christian Circuit Court for new consideration.