It will be another 19 months before a former Hawaii Police Department officer will stand trial on charges stemming from a May 2019 indictment for allegedly stealing cocaine in 2014 from a police evidence locker in Hilo.
Brian Miller, a retired Hilo vice detective, was indicted in 2019 on charges of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, second- and fourth-degree theft, conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence, three counts of tampering with physical evidence, obstructing government operations, criminal conspiracy to hinder prosecution, and hindering prosecution.
Kona Circuit Court Judge Robert D.S. Kim granted the continuance Monday after Miller fired his counsel on the first scheduled day of his trial on March 22. Miller was assigned a new court-appointed attorney, William Harrison, who indicated to the court that because of his schedule he would be unavailable for trial until 2023. Kim scheduled a new trial date for Nov. 7, 2023.
The original trial date was set for October 2019. Since then, Miller has been granted nine continuances.
Some of the charges were for allegedly absconding more than an ounce of cocaine from the police station on May 3, 2016, and taking FedEx parcels between June 13, 2014, and July 30, 2015. Other charges stemmed from an Aug. 10, 2017, gambling raid by police at Triple 7 arcade in downtown Hilo.
Miller and a retired police captain, Chadwick Fukui, were accused of tipping off arcade owner Lance Yamada and his brother, Stacy Yamada, prior to the raid. The case against Fukui has since been dismissed.
Miller also was indicted on July 13, 2020, on charges of intimidating a witness, retaliating against a witness, witness tampering, second-degree terroristic threatening and harassment.
The victim in the case was a woman listed as a potential witness in the drug and conspiracy case against Miller and a separate gambling and conspiracy case against Fukui, the Yamadas and two other civilians. A man also was listed as the victim on the harassment charge. The offenses allegedly occurred on May 14, 2020.
Trial for the 2020 indictment has been set for June 14.
Miller has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases.
The most serious charge, first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, is a class A felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.
Miller remains free on $60,000 bail.
