Still no murder trial for Mobile man with misspelled forehead tattoo
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2014/08/still_no_murder_trial_for_mobi.html#incart_m-rpt-2Michael Dumas | mdumas@al.com By Michael Dumas | mdumas@al.com
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on August 14, 2014 at 2:25 PM, updated August 14, 2014 at 5:15 PM
MOBILE, Alabama – The man police say shot his mother's boyfriend to death will now enter his fourth year of treatment at a psychiatric facility, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Dwayne Batice Miller has been at the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility since Oct. 2011, more than a year after he allegedly killed 47-year-old Fredrick Edwards in the west Mobile home they shared. Edwards was shot on July 10, 2010, as he sat in the Vista Bonita Drive East house's front room, according to previous reports.
The murder weapon was found at the scene of the crime, police said.
Miller, 30, who has "Cheif" and a skull-and-crossbones tattooed on his face, was found incompetent to face trial on Oct. 19, 2011.
On Wednesday, Taylor Hardin forensic examiner Dr. Robert Bare presented the results from his most recent analysis of Miller, concluding he "continues to exhibit symptoms of mental illness and cognitive deficits" that would prohibit his defense at trial.
According to Bare's report, Miller suffers from psychotic, antisocial personality and bipolar disorders, chronic substance abuse, and has borderline intellectual functioning. Miller "continues to lack insight into his need for treatment and denies that he has a mental illness," Bare wrote.
In a recent meeting about his treatment, the defendant "became frustrated" and told his treatment team, "They say I have a mental illness, but I don't," the report said.
On Wednesday Walter Honeycutt, Miller's attorney, argued his client should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, and remanded to a civil treatment facility. That way, his case doesn't keep coming up on the criminal court docket, and Miller continues to receive the treatment he needs, Honeycutt said.
Circuit Judge Robert Smith decided, instead, to take the matter under submission, and recommit Miller to Taylor Hardin for "continued treatment."
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