Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Boyd Oliver Miller Jr. and his wife, Angela Dalton Miller, pleaded guilty to robbing the Salem Orange Market in March.
He went inside for orange juice and a fistful of cash while she circled the block in the getaway car, said Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King.
Angela Miller also was facing one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, one misdemeanor petty larceny charge and one statutory burglary charge, but she entered court with a plea agreement.
The other three charges were dropped.
Boyd Miller also pleaded guilty to robbing a Hardee's restaurant a few hours earlier.
In a plea agreement struck with King, a charge of statutory burglary against Boyd Miller was reduced to the misdemeanor charge of interfering with the property rights of another.
That charge resulted from a break-in at a neighbor's storage unit.
Janet Wells testified at an April preliminary hearing that a few days after the MIllers moved into an apartment in the building where she lived, her things began to disappear.
Wells has said her battery charger, weed cutter and other tools were missing when she checked her storage unit. Police recovered those items from Vinton and Williamson Road pawnshops.
But Boyd Miller kept an old, rusted gun missing from Wells' storage room, police have said.
Much of Thursday's court hearing involved the gun.
Boyd Miller pleaded innocent to two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
His attorney, Thomas Dickenson, argued that because the gun was incapable of being loaded, it should not be considered a gun.
``That thing is just in horrible condition,'' Dickenson said. ``There must come a time when it's no longer a firearm.''
But King asserted that the gun was real because the victims in the robberies thought it was.
``This is no less a firearm because it requires a considerable amount of work to make it fire,'' King said.
Clemens agreed - with both of them.
He sided with the defense on the charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
``As I read the statute, it is meant to keep them from having in their possession a firearm or concealed weapon that can do harm,'' Clemens said.
However, on the two more-serious firearms charges - using a firearm in the commission of a felony - he ruled as King argued.
On those two counts, Clemens sentenced Boyd Miller to eight years in prison. Dickenson said his client will appeal the decision.
The Millers will be sentenced on their other charges after a pre-sentencing report is completed.
Angela Miller's attorney, Rena Berry, requested that Angela Miller be screened for a drug counseling program.
``Her life was out of control. On March 20 she began selling personal items to get money for drugs,'' Berry said. ``The money obtained from the robberies was used to buy drugs and items for their children.''
Boyd Miller also has charges pending against him in Roanoke of grand larceny, robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
by CNB