Judge Rules Against Bid for Dismissal in Jarrod Miller Murder Case

One week after hearing to recuse Sonoma County prosecutors or altogether drop charges against Jarrod Miller for the murder of Tim Neuer in March, a Sonoma County Superior Court judge ruled last night that the arguments were groundless, and the trial would proceed.

Miller, 29, of Cloverdale, is , his sister’s boyfriend, on March 8 at their Alexander Valley home just north of Healdsburg.

Defense attorney Joe Bisbiglia presented arguments to Judge Arthur Wick on Aug. 11 that the recording of a jail-room conversation between and his half-brother Chad Miller, 39, was grounds to dismiss the charges, due to “outrageous conduct” on the part of Sonoma County detectives and prosecutors in their handling of the case. 

Wick, in a starkly worded eight-page ruling released last night, found there was no evidence the district attorney engaged in any misconduct that would warrant recusal, nor was there any evidence of prosecutorial or governmental misconduct warranting dismissal.

"Recusal is rarely granted," the judge's ruling said. "A defendant seeking to recuse a prosector or the prosecutor's entire hoffice has a two-part burden of proof.... As argued by the Attorney General's Opposition, there is simply no evidence demonstrating that the District Attorney's Office engaged in any misconduct that would warrant recusal. Defendant's claims are based on speculation."

According to the ruling, a copy of which was obtained from the Sonoma County Court Clerk's Office, the recording was without value.

"During the conversation between defendant and Chad [Miller], it doesn't appear that defendant made any incriminating statements," the ruling noted.

The statement also said that Miller “could not obtain a dismissal because the inadvertent eavesdropping involved another defendant,” another argument made by Bisbiglia. For the purposes of argument the judge declared that "Defendant cannot obtain a dismissal of his case simply because the government engaged in misconduct towards another defendant."

One point of the defense argument was that as an ex-felon, Chad Miller should not have been allowed to visit the jail without special permission. The argument was made that Sonoma County Sheriff’s Detective Brandon Cutting helped facilitate the visit, thereby making Chad Miller an “agent of the government” in an effort to gain information from Jarrod Miller.

The judge's finding was that Cutting did not send or encourage the visit.

“This undermines any argument that Detective Cutting used Chad as an agent of the government,” Wick wrote.

"Defendant's motion to dismiss based on prosecurial misconduct or governmental misconduct is denied in its entirety," the ruling concluded.

Barbi Evans, the mother of Jarrod Miller, expressed support for the judge's ruling.

"I feel he did a very fair job," she said, recognizing that a recusal or change of venue would be of no value to her son. "All I can do is pray and hope he can get the help he needs."

Kathi L. Miller, step-mother of Jerrod and mother of Chad Miller, was also supportive of the judge's ruling. "The jude made a fair and accurate decision," she said. "I think the District Attorney's office is going a good job."

Defense attorney Bisbigila, who is a county public defender, is out of the office for two weeks and was not available for comment. The next court date in the case is Aug. 31, to set a preliminary hearing date.