The trial of 43-year Dennis Jay Miller of, RD 3 Tyrone, came to an end yesterday in Blair County Court after the defendant entered a no contest plea to three charges stemming from the August 2005 death of Anna Theresa Walk of Tyrone.
State police said Walk was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Miller during the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2005 when they were involved in an argument. Miller abruptly stopped the vehicle broadside in Decker Hollow Road in Snyder Township. Walk got out of the vehicle and began to walk away. Police alleged that Miller put the vehicle in reverse and drove the car backward and swerved toward Walk. She was hit by the vehicle and run over by it.
Yesterday, Miller plead no contest to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence and recklessly endangering another person.
The trial had started on Monday and prosecutors were expected to rest their case yesterday, according to Assistant DA Wade Kagarise. Instead, the plea agreement was worked out and Miller entered the plea before the court. He was sentenced to a three to six-year term. Prosecutors dropped a general criminal homicide charge in exchange for the plea.
Kagarise explained, “He actually plead on the most serious charge that he could have been convicted on. Criminal homicide could have been a more serious charge, but that is not necessarily true.”
He explained that would have depended on what type of homicide conviction the jury would have handed down. Kagarise explained that would have required prosecutors to prove Miller’s actions intentional, which would mean murder. However, jurors could have also found Miller guilty of a lesser degree of homicide.
After serving his sentence, Miller will be required to serve two years of probation. Kagarise said Miller would be eligible for parole after serving three years. Miller has been in jail since his arrest last August and he will be credited for time served.
During probation, Miller is prohibited from drinking and he is not allowed to be around others consuming alcohol and he is also not allowed to have contact with the victim’s family. He said other conditions would be placed on him by parole/probation officials.
Kagarise said, “This resolution was a fair one to both sides. The Commonwealth would have liked to have seen more jail time in the case. However, we had to take into consideration the evidence and the possibility that the defendant could have been found not guilty.”
He said prosecutors met with the victim’s family and laid out all the possibilities before the agreement was reached.
“We sought their opinion and advice before we made any decision,” said Kagarise. “The whole prosecution team, the state police and the victim’s family made a collective decision that this was the best resolution.”
Miller’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, did not return a call seeking comment by The Herald’s press deadline.
