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The second trial for charges of historical sex crimes against Penticton Coun. James Miller is underway in Ontario.
The second trial for charges of historical sex crimes against Penticton Coun. James Miller is underway in Ontario.
Miller is charged with multiple counts of sexual interference with a minor, including one on a trip to Michigan, to which he has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The allegations date back to his time in Sarnia, Ont., as a coach for a school basketball team. Miller coached at the same time he was a sports writer for the Sarnia Observer.
Charges related to the two claimants were split off from a first trial, which took place at the beginning of May. The Justice presiding over that trial reserved his decision for a later unscheduled date.
Just like the first trial, the court issued an order excluding witnesses from the courtroom outside of their testimony.
A publication order is also in place for one of the two claimants, barring the publication of their name. For ease of understanding, both will be referred to by initial only in this article.
The trial opens with first claimant
The trial opened with the first claimant, J., who was about 10 years old when he joined the school basketball team that Miller coached voluntarily.
J. spoke about how his family wasn’t well off, and that he and other kids often carpooled when they were heading out to games, whether with other parents or with Miller.
It was during these trips that J. said he witnessed behaviour by Miller that, at the time, didn’t bother him, however, in retrospect, was a concerning pattern.
“When we were back in the hotel rooms, Jim had no problem taking his pants off in front of us, or walking around in his underwear in front of us, that was a no big deal thing for him,” said J. “Whether it was at the hotel or in a change room, occasionally he would change out of whatever street clothes or what have you into more athletic gear for running the practices and the drills and then have to change back, and like I said, he had no qualms about changing in front of us with defective underwear. It wasn’t a one-time occurrence.”
J. said he and a few other children also received one-on-one training sessions at the gym and at outdoor basketball courts. He recalled that, after he had been on the team for some time, his mother, who was single at the time, spoke with Miller following a game about the two spending time together outside basketball.
“My mother was trying to get me out of the house, keep me active, keep me out of trouble with a male role model,” J. said. “So, that started with small outings, Moortown sports complex, the walking trails around Canatara [Park], Champs wing night, occasional random things, just sporadic at the start.”
As time went on, J. said Miller took him on trips out of town, to Chatham, Toronto, and one time to Detroit. J. also said Miller brought him to the Sarnia Observer office a few times, sometimes getting a tour, other times so that Miller could pick up something he’d left at work or to post an item before a deadline.
Eventually, while at the coach’s home, J. told the court, he spoke to Miller about his parents’ divorce, and after that conversation, Miller hugged him, and that was when they separated, Miller allegedly kissed him.
J. said it was not the only time that Miller had allegedly kissed him.
He also told the court that he recalled on at least two occasions waking up to find Miller standing in the room masturbating.
He said he finally told someone around the time he entered high school, when he and his now-ex-wife saw Miller on a local TV channel hosting a sports trivia show, although it still took time to share the full story.
“It just kind of sparked the conversation about Jim, and I had nothing good to say, and she tried to get me to expand on it, of why I didn’t like my former coach,” said J. “Eventually, over time, not that particular meeting, but over a few conversations with her, of trying to pull more and more out of me.”
Miller’s defence challenged J. on the specifics of several pieces of his testimony.
The cross-examination included how he came to join the team, noting that J. had claimed it was after a friend of his had to leave, and therefore a spot opened up, which didn’t align with a photograph showing both the friend and J. during the team’s championship.
Defence pressed J. on the trip to watch the Blue Jays, which J. said was an overnight stay, stating that Miller’s instructions had been that it was a trip there and back the same day, submitting the ticket stubs as part of the evidence.
Miller’s attorney also noted the tickets had come from a paper company that favoured the Sarnia Observer, where the accused worked at the time.
Lastly, defence noted that the testimony J. had given did not line up with the statement given to police by his ex-wife regarding the allegations.
Second claimant testifies
The second claimant, B., took the stand on the second day of the trial.
His testimony began by sharing that his older brother had been on the team Miller coached before he joined.
B. said Miller took him on trips to see basketball and baseball games, and that his brother had gone on such trips as well.
There were two incidents that B. specifically cited, where he said that Miller had put his body against his and commenced “thrusting,” while clothed, for several minutes. This included one time while returning from a trip to watch a game in Michigan, B. told the court.
“I can’t remember why I didn’t say anything,” B. said. “I didn’t know why. I didn’t know if I should say something. I just carried on with life, I put it in the back of my head.”
After seeing the news stories about Miller’s 2005 acquittal in Sarnia, which led to the accused taking a leave of absence from Penticton city council, B. said that he phoned the city hall, demanding to speak with Miller, and that he delivered furious words to him before promising to see his former coach in court.
He followed up with an email to Penticton’s mayor, as well as posts to public Facebook groups in Penticton and Spruce Grove, where Miller lived for two years before coming to Penticton.
Penticton’s mayor then forwarded the email to the local RCMP, who contacted the Sarnia Police Service.
Defence pressed B. on his “movement”, noting that in one of his posts on Facebook, he contradicted his statement to police that he had not been aware of Miller’s earlier trial and acquittal due to being away from the community working.
B. admitted to the contradiction, but maintained that he didn’t know about the 2005 trial, as he claimed he would have come forward had he known about the allegations at the time.
Defence also pressed B. on his goal of ruining Miller’s reputation and his plan to arrange a protest in front of Penticton City Hall, in an effort to force Miller to resign, which did not end up happening.
“Had that occurred, would we not be here today?” asked the defence.
“We would still be here today,” B. responded.
“Ruin his reputation out there and also bring him back here to face these charges; that was your goal,” stated Miller’s lawyer.
“Yes,” replied B.
Three Crown witnesses still have to testify, after which the defence is expected to make submissions and may call witnesses.
The trial is still ongoing, and none of the allegations have been proven.
It is scheduled to resume on May 21.