A retired East Haven police sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to serve four months in prison, ending the case against four officers following a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights probe, a federal indictment and convictions of all four.
The wail from the wife of John Miller did not stop a U.S. District Court judge as he announced to the court he would be putting the former officer behind bars.
“WHAT?” exclaimed Lisa Miller when Judge Alvin Thompson announced her husband’s sentence, just after prosecutors finished praising his cooperation in an investigation that ultimately led to the convictions of three fellow officers.
Miller’s attorney, Donald J. Cretella, had argued for probation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel even said the government requested a “non-custodial sentence,” meaning the government was not seeking to punish Miller with a prison sentence. Miller has most recently been working as organizing director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 15, Connecticut Council of Police.
Lisa Miller, who bolted from the courtroom as soon as Thompson announced the sentence, was heard sobbing in the hall while her husband stood listening to Thompson’s instructions.
Earlier she had tearfully stood before Thompson, pleading for leniency, telling him that “John (Miller) should never have seen the streets after that second fatal shooting.”
In her statement Patel acknowledged that Miller appeared to become a different man after 2008, the year he fatally shot 32-year-old Brian Batten, who had led police on a chase into New Haven in March of that year. A state police investigation determined Batten had aimed a gun at officers seconds before Miller pulled the trigger.
“His record was extraordinary up until….
To read full article: http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20140212/ex-east-haven-police-sgt-john-miller-gets-4-months-in-force-case
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