More on Jim Miller Trial

San Bernardino County Sentinel
Friday, May 21, 2010 Page 1
Miller Chooses
Trial Instead Of Plea Bargain
Former Grand Terrace city councilman Jim Miller this week declined an offer from the district attorney’s office to reduce the felony conflict of interest charge lodged against him last year to a misdemeanor and instead indicated he will fight the matter at trial.
Miller was arrested and charged last July with a violation of Government Code Section 1090, based upon his votes on consent calendar items that ratified payments to his wife’s newspaper, the Grand Terrace City News, for legal notices the city requested be published therein.
Miller resigned from the council in March and the prosecutor handling the case, deputy district attorney John Goritz, offered to dismiss the 1090 violation, a felony, in return for Miller pleading guilty to a violation of Government Code Section 87100, which pertains to conflicts of interest but which denotes a lesser degree of seriousness and is thus recorded as a misdemeanor.
Miller was previously represented by Rick Ewaniszyk, who negotiated with Goritz the terms of the plea arrangement that Miller rejected. Instead, Miller was represented by attorney Jim Reiss.
"After careful consideration of the district attorney’s offer," Miller said, "I have elected to go to trial. I did not accept the plea bargain because to do so would be to admit to a crime I did not commit. And while it is tempting to merely accept a plea bargain to put this behind me and release my family from a burden they in no way should be shouldering, it is simply unacceptable to me to be labeled as a criminal when I know in my heart that that I had no such intent to break the law or disrespect my constituents.
I acknowledge that I voted on issues pertaining to the ratification after the fact of payments made to my wife’s newspaper, but I relied on the counsel of the city attorney in making those votes and would have abstained if I had been informed that there was any potential conflict.
I respect the legal work that Mr. Ewaniszyk, who was formerly representing me in this matter, provided. At this point, I am being represented by Mr. Reiss, whom I know to be a very aggressive litigator and who has assured me he will pursue an energetic defense on my behalf with regard to these charges.
I want the community to know that I took my role as an elected city official very seriously and I considered the trust the people of Grand Terrace placed in me to be a personal honor. I also want them to know that I did not abuse that trust and I am looking forward to taking this matter to trial so I can make a demonstration of that."
Miller’s pretrial hearing has been set for July 27, with jury selection scheduled to begin on Aug. 9.