Two men convicted of capital murder as juveniles are now headed for re-sentencing trials next year in Columbia County.
Scheduled Thursday by Circuit Judge David W. Talley Jr., the jury proceedings for Matthew Ryan Elliott, 36, of Magnolia and Steven Wade Miller, 41, of Union County will take place Feb. 25, 2020, and April 28, 2020, respectively, with open-ended lengths.
"We're in pretty uncharted waters here," noted Talley this week.
The trials were set after the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the local judge’s previous re-sentencing orders from September 2017 ruling that both Elliott and Miller would be issued life in prison with a chance of parole after 30 years. But the defense teams for both men -- private attorney J. Blake Hendrix of Little Rock for Elliott and private attorney James M. Pratt Jr. of Camden for Miller -- appealed the matters to the state's high court and had Talley's decision reversed.
The re-sentencings two years ago came due to the United States Supreme Court case Miller v. Alabama, where the Judicial Branch in 2012 -- by way of a 5-4 decision -- concluded “that mandatory life without parole for those under age of 18 at the time of their crime violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments.” Another federal supreme court case in 2016, Montgomery v. Louisiana, stated that the new sentencing laws must be applied retroactively, therefore making Elliott and Miller eligible for new sentences.
The State Supreme Court in the case of Elliott and Miller later determined that since their original sentences for
Elliott and Miller were initially unconstitutional, the lower circuit court could not re-sentence something that technically did not exist. The move now gives a jury the right to decide the new ranges of punishment.
Capital murder is a Class Y felony in Arkansas. The punishment can range from 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
Elliott was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the Feb. 5, 2000, premeditated killing of his then 15-year-old girlfriend, Brittni Pater of Magnolia. Elliott was 16 at the time of the incident. He pleaded guilty to the gruesome crime later that year in Columbia County court.
Miller in 1996 was found guilty by a Columbia County jury for the March 5, 1994, murder of 21-year-old Leona Cameron at a Subway restaurant in El Dorado. The trial venue was moved to Magnolia due to the high profile nature of the case in Union County. Miller -- like Elliott -- was 16 at the time of the crime.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Rogers noted Thursday that the convictions remain intact, but that a jury now needs to be selected from Columbia County’s pool and hold a new trial to again apply a sentence.
“We’ll present the evidence that is relevant,” said Rogers, “and it will be up to the jury to determine where in that [10-40 or life] range that the punishment will be appropriate.”
With the new proceedings scheduled, the state in essence will be required to retry the cases. Even though the guilty verdicts are already intact, past discovery from the cases will likely again be presented for new sentences -- including physical, forensic, and photographic evidence from 1994 and 2000. Both Elliott’s and Miller’s cases were noted for their brutality.
“The only way for a jury to truly appreciate the heinous nature to the crime is to go back and prove the crime because those things are relevant to sentencing,” Rogers added.
The 13 Judicial District prosecutorial head noted that even if the two convicted murderers are again sentenced to life in prison, the cases may still not end.
“If the defense is not satisfied with [the new sentence], I would bet there will be yet another appeal,” he said.
Roger later stated when asked if going to a trial was a “win” for the prosecution: “In cases of this nature, nobody wins.”