Negotiations fail in dead dog animal cruelty case

DECATUR — Last-ditch court negotiations to come up with some kind of plea deal failed Wednesday in a dead dog animal cruelty case that has sparked public outrage and is now headed to trial. 

Defendant Mark A. Miller Jr.’s defense lawyer Dan Fultz spent close to half an hour in discussions with Macon County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Thomas Griffith and Macon County State’s Attorney Scott Rueter, all trying to find common ground for a deal.

They met in what’s known legally as a “402 conference” in which the defense and prosecution try to reach a compromise and the judge also expresses his views.

As this process went on outside of the courtroom in the judge’s chambers, the 43-year-old defendant sat alone at the defense table with his back to more than a dozen anti-cruelty protesters packing the public gallery.

They all sat in the hushed courtroom wearing blue jackets in memory of a pet pit bull called Berry Blue, the dog Miller is accused of allowing to suffer outside in winter weather. Alerted by the public during a vicious cold snap just before Christmas of 2022, cops had arrived to find Berry Blue close to death and the pet had to be euthanized.

Four other dogs were also found to be suffering, according to police, but they all survived after being taken into the care of the Macon County Animal Control and Care Center.

Miller has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated cruelty and cruelty to animals. He also faces five counts of being a felon in possession of an unsterilized dog; Illinois law states felons with certain records are not allowed to own any dog unless it is spayed or neutered.

Emerging from the 402 conference, Griffith told the courtroom: “At least it appears at this time that we will not be able to come to a resolution and so then now, based on the request of counsel, the case is allotted for jury trial.”

Griffith said both sides had suggested a trial date of April 15 and so that was now set on the court’s calendar. “And counsel, that will be a very, very firm date and I want to make certain that everyone is prepared on that date,” the judge added.

Rueter later met with the protestors, who have faithfully attended every court hearing, to brief them on where the case was at.

Commenting afterwards to the Herald & Review, he said: “Obviously in most cases, not in every case, but in most cases, we try and find some sort of resolution prior to trial.

“Sometimes you are close and sometimes you are not… and in this case it looks like the parties are far enough apart that we can’t come to an agreement so it’s been set for trial. That could still change; the defense knows what our offer is and what the judge is likely to do. But at this point we don’t have a meeting of the minds.”

Rueter would not discuss what the prosecution’s offer to resolve the case was, but said the obvious sticking point was that the prosecution wanted a more severe penalty than the defense was willing to accept.

Miller’s case has a fellow defendant, Nyssa R. Richards-Miller, 40, who denies one count of cruelty to animals. The judge set her case for a status hearing on the date of Miller’s trial.