A Hamilton man charged with fatally stabbing his fiance’s brother in the chest on Christmas Eve is not in the custody of the Hancock County jail.
State’s Attorney Bobi Gail James filed a petition to deny pretrial release for Garrett P. Miller, 34. But at a hearing last week, Judge Rodney Clark denied it, saying the state did not meet the burden of proving the defendant was a threat to the safety of others.
Judge Clark did find probable cause for the case to proceed. But under the state’s Pretrial Fairness Act, probable cause alone is not enough to hold someone in jail before trial.
The law requires prosecutors to prove a defendant poses a real and present threat to the community, and also to prove that no set of release conditions would mitigate that risk.
Judge Clark released Miller under strict conditions. According to court orders, he must live with his father, surrender any firearms, and wear a GPS monitoring device.
Miller cannot leave the state, except for work. He was also ordered not to visit the scene of the stabbing.
Hamilton is a city of around 2,700 residents across the Mississippi River from Keokuk, Iowa.
The stabbing happened in the evening hours of Dec. 24 at a home owned by the defendant and the victim’s sister on North County Road 900, just north of the east side of the city.
The Sheriff’s Office responded to the home around 10 p.m. following a 911 call, according to a release from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.
Miller was taken into custody at 10:14 p.m., according to court records. The defendant has a black eye in his booking photo, which was released by the Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, Dalton L. Sherman, 29, died that evening, according to his obituary. Sherman was a 2014 graduate of Warsaw High School and worked as an electrician in Peoria.
The charges
State’s Attorney James has charged Miller with three separate offenses related to the stabbing: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and involuntary manslaughter.
Miller could only be convicted of one of those charges. The varying severity of the charges reflects different legal theories about the defendant’s intent, according to court documents obtained by TSPR.
The first-degree murder charge would require the state to prove that Miller stabbed Sherman without lawful justification, knowing his actions created a strong probability of death. That charge carries a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison.
The second-degree murder charge carries a lower burden, alleging the stabbing resulted from unreasonable conduct, rather than an intent to kill the victim. That is a Class 1 felony that carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison.
The least serious charge, involuntary manslaughter, alleges a death was caused by reckless acts, rather than an intent to kill. That is a Class 3 felony, punishable by a two to five year prison sentence.
Miller is represented by William Wolf, a Chicago defense attorney. Miller’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 22.
