WOODSTOCK — The trial of an Upper Valley man who faces child sexual abuse and child sex abuse image charges has been postponed.
A judge granted the delay in response to defendant Wayne Miller’s motion that he was unable to “participate effectively” in his defense because prison officials cut off his access to his prescriptions.
Miller, who was known for his youth-mentoring efforts that had won statewide recognition, has been held without bail in state prisons since he was charged in late 2021 with multiple counts of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. The case was set to go to trial on Monday in Windsor County Superior Court in Woodstock.
This marks the fourth time since 2023 that a jury draw for Miller’s trial has been set and postponed, according to court records.
Windsor County Judge Heather Gray, who is presiding over the case, granted Miller’s motion for continuance on May 7, the day after it was filed.
Miller’s attorneys did not reply to an inquiry for comment.
A spokesperson with the Vermont Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, said via email that state prosecutors opposed the delay.
As of Wednesday, new dates for jury draw and trial had not yet been set.
Miller, 37, is currently being held in pretrial detention at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors have been sparring over which criminal counts can be included, what evidence can be submitted and points of law that could shape the scope of the trial.
According to a motion filed earlier this month by Miller’s White River Junction-based defense attorneys, Evan Antel and Jordana Levine, Miller was transferred on May 2 from Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, Vt., where he had been housed for more than two years, to Springfield.
In the days prior to being transferred, Miller had begun receiving a “new ADHD medication” from the one he had been prescribed “for some time,” his lawyers wrote in the motion seeking postponement of trial. He also had been “cut off cold turkey from two antidepressant medications.”
The stopping of Miller’s antidepressant medications in addition to the switch and subsequent stopping of ADHD medication “has had a substantial effect on his ability to concentrate, to communicate effectively and to regulate himself emotionally,” Miller’s attorneys wrote.
A spokesperson for Vermont’s Department of Corrections declined to comment on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, in January, the same judge denied an attempt by Miller’s defense team to suppress statements Miller had made to police in response to questions investigators had asked him about the illicit images traced to his email addresses.
Miller’s attorneys argued that their client’s statements to police when they arrived at his home to arrest him should be inadmissible at trial. They contend Miller’s words came during a “custodial interrogation” without Miller having been warned of his Miranda rights.
But Gray ruled that police had explicitly informed Miller multiple times during the interview that he was not under arrest or in custody and did not have to talk with them.
Gray, in a 14-page opinion, concluded that the circumstances under which police interviewed Miller did not meet the definition of being “in custody” and that any information obtained during the interview had been lawfully obtained.
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.
