Guilty on 3 counts

WORLAND – After nearly three hours of deliberation a jury of six men and six women declared their verdict of guilty in the case of the State of Wyoming against Jason Miller in the Fifth Judicial District Court in Worland.

The jury of six men and six women found Miller, a former Worland resident, guilty of two charges of first degree sexual assault and sexual intrusion of a child under the age of 13 and one count of sexual assault and sexual intrusion of a minor under the age of 18.

Miller faces up to 150 years in prison, as each count has a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 50 years in prison.

Washakie County Deputy attorney Anthony Barton stated after the verdict, "I am glad that the jury reached the verdict that they did and I am glad to get justice for the victim."

Miller pleaded not guilty in November in Washakie County Fifth Judicial District Court to four counts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor. The abuse was alleged to have occurred between August of 2014 and September of 2016.

Miller went to court in mid-April for the charges but the trial ended in a mistrial after evidence that had been ruled inadmissible was submitted by the victim's mother.

On Monday, Aug. 26, a new jury was selected and a new trial got underway.

The court heard opening statements from Barton and Washakie County Public Defender Richard Hopkinson before Barton called his first witness, the victim's mother.

The victim's mother told the court of several times where she saw signs that her child was not being mentored by Miller in an appropriate way but was trusting to realize what may or may not have been happening.

The mother stated that she didn't recognize the problem until her child came to her explaining what had been happening.

After the victim's mother testified, the victim also testified to what had occurred and when. After the victim told the story, the victim was interrogated by the defense. Once the victim's testimony ended District Court Judge Bobbie D. Overfield recessed until 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Testimony continued Tuesday with the state's expert witness professor Matt Gray of the University of Wyoming testifying regarding how victims act after traumatic incidents such as sexual abuse.

After Gray's testimony the court had a short recess and reconvened around 11:30 a.m. and jury instructions were discussed. Upon reconvening at 1 p.m., after lunch, the jury learned that the defense also rested their case and final arguments were heard from both the state and the defense, the jury heard their final instructions and left the courtroom to deliberate around 2 p.m.

The defense argued that they felt that the state had not met their burden of proof and highlighted areas where specific people did not testify, that should have been required to testify, that the state had not proven that the people who interviewed the victim were qualified to do so, that a physical examination was not done on the victim and that the victim was coached on what to say.

The state argued that they had met the burden of proof and that the specific people were not needed to try the case, along with the testimony from the victim and the victim's mother and the expert witness, no more evidence was needed and that the victim was never coached and that there was no reason for the victim and the victim's mother to lie as there would be nothing to gain.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

The Northern Wyoming News does not publish names of juvenile victims in sexual assault cases. To protect the victim, the mother's name is also being withheld in this story.