Man’s life sentence for murder upheld

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

LIMA – An area man who slit the throat of another man while robbing him of money the victim obtained from selling heroin had his 2010 sentence upheld by the Ohio Third District Court of Appeals in a decision made public Monday.

Port A. Miler had appealed a sentence of life without the possibility of parole handed down in Paulding County Common Pleas Court, asserting that the sentence – the maximum for aggravated murder – was “cruel and unusual punishment” for the offense he committed.

In a decision written by Judge John Williamowski, the court disagreed, noting that trial courts have discretion to impose a prison sentence that lies within the statutory range for an offense from which the conviction stems.

“As a general rule, a sentence that falls within the terms of a valid statute cannot amount to cruel and unusual punishment,” Judge Williamowski noted, adding that an appeal challenging imposition of a maximum sentence will only be sustained if the person appealing the sentence can show that it was “clearly and convincingly contrary to law.”

The judge said cases where cruel and unusual punishment has been found are “limited to those involving sanctions which under the circumstances would be considered shocking to any reasonable person.”

Judge Willamowski noted that was not the case with Miler, who had a long history of criminal offenses involving assaults and various drug offenses when he murdered an acquaintance to steal his drug money.

According to court documents, Miler and his victim were in the victim’s apartment using heroin when Miler decided to kill the man for a large amount of cash the victim had gotten from selling heroin to another person.

When the first knife Miler used was unable to complete the job, he went to the kitchen of the victim’s apartment and got another, sharper knife, which he used to finish killing the man. The murder occurred May 9, 2010, with Miler indicted for the crime during the July 2010 session of the Paulding County grand jury.

The appellate judge also stated in his decision that the trial court in the case had noted during sentencing that Miler’s crime was the most brutal it had ever seen.

Miler had first pleaded not guilty to the offense, but later entered a guilty plea to aggravated murder. Sentencing was held on September 2, 2010, and the appellate court said four sentences were possible:

• Life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 20 years.
• Life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 25 years
• Life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 30 years
• Life imprisonment without parole.

The appellate decision stated that Miler was aware that those were the only four sentencing possibilities available to him after he changed his plea to guilty.

Judges Richard Rogers and Vernon Preston concurred in the decision written by Willamowski.