Former HPD Detective Awaiting Trial Pleads Not Guilty to Additional Charges

Brian Miller (PC: HPD)

A former Hawai‘i police detective pleaded not guilty to charges related to intimidating a witness and a jury trial has been scheduled for Dec. 22.

On Tuesday, Brian Miller, 56, appeared before Interim Chief Judge Robert D.S. Kim in 3rd Circuit Court following a grand jury indictment on July 15. He is facing charges of retaliation against a witness and intimidating a witness, both of which are Class C felonies, as well as misdemeanor charges of witness tampering, second-degree terroristic threatening, and harassment.

Miller is currently awaiting trial on drug theft and conspiracy charges after he allegedly stole cocaine from the Hilo police evidence locker in May 2016. A Kona grand jury indicted him on the offenses in May 2019. According to the July 15 indictment, Miller is accused of threatening and harassing two people meant to testify in the 2019 case.

Miller turned himself in at the Hilo cellblock last week and was released on $50,000 bail. During Tuesday’s court hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Sheri Lawson asked that bail be maintained and that Miller has no contact with two people he’s accused of intimidating. Lawson also asked that Miller stay 100 yards away from their homes and places of employment.

Lawson asked for an ankle monitor, but Kim denied her request.

In 2019, Miller was indicted on conspiracy charges in connection to a tipoff to Lance and Stacey Yamada, owners of Hilo’s Triple 7 arcade, about a gambling raid on their establishment on Aug. 10, 2017.

Overall, the former police detective is charged with first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, second- and fourth-degree theft, obstructing government operations, two counts of second-degree hindering prosecution, and four counts of tampering with physical evidence.

Miller’s next court appearance in the 2019 case is in August.