JP Miller Released in Late Wife's Federal Stalking Case

John Paul JP Miller was back in court. this week to enter [music] a plea to the. federal criminal charges he faces. Charges that could send him to prison. for a long time. And we learned more. about the investigation, what was. apparently found in his house, if there. will be more charges, and what happens. next [music] in this case. Including, will he be released pre-trial? Welcome. to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Now, if you're [music] into content. creation, if you're putting things out. on social media, have you ever wondered.

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our producers can get you viral. courtroom updates instantly. This is the. most powerful tool there is to share. ideas and edit like a pro. So, go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to get a free week and then 50% off. All. right, let's talk about John Paul JP. Miller. He's back in the news, and this. time he has officially entered a plea to. the federal charges that he faces. And. by the way, there are a slew of other. legal developments in this case that. we're going to talk about as well. But, remember who we're talking about here, this South Carolina pastor who nearly 2. years after the unexpected death of his.

wife, Mica Miller, which captured. headlines, he was indicted on. cyberstalking and false statement. charges. These are federal charges. You. read from the indictment, it essentially. alleges that for a period from November. 16th, 2022 through April 27th, 2024, that is when Mica died by her own hand. out North Carolina, he allegedly sent. harassing messages to victim one, so. presumably Mica, posted a nude photo of. her online, placed tracking devices on.

her car, surveilled her, damaged her. car, interfered with her financial. affairs and her daily life, all with the. intent to kill, injure, harass, or. intimidate. That's the first charge. Then, the indictment alleges that on. October 17th, 2024, Miller allegedly. lied to federal investigators about how. much he had been calling victim one, that he was never told by police to not. contact her, and about not damaging her. car. By the way, it was reported that.

Miller told authorities that he hired a. private investigator, a PI, to watch out. for Mica, you know, to make sure that. she didn't buy a gun because maybe he. was worried about her safety. Prosecutors allege, no, that he actually. hired a PI to see if Mica was cheating. on him. I think the best way to. summarize the allegations, you have US. Attorney Brian Sterling who said, quote, "The indictment describes some. disturbing allegations of harassment. While marriage should be a place of. peace and support, it turned into a.

nightmare for Mica." Kevin Moore, the. agent in charge of the FBI's Columbia. field office, called Miller's alleged. actions predatory. And that all brings. us to the big update, what we're talking. about right now. Because for the man who. is now facing reportedly up to 5 years. in prison for cyberstalking and 2 years. for making false statements, John Paul. Miller has now officially entered a plea. of not guilty to the charges. He was. just in federal court on Monday for his. arraignment out in Florence, in South.

Carolina, where he entered his official. plea to the charges. That is not all the. developments though. He also waived his. right to a speedy trial. So, under. federal law, a trial has to begin within. 70 days from when the indictment was. filed, but a defendant can waive that. That is what happened here. You have the. waiver right here. It says, "My attorney. has informed me of my rights under the. Speedy Trial Act. I wish to waive my. rights under that law and have my case. continued past the upcoming term of. court. I make this waiver with a full.

understanding of my rights to have this. matter heard according to the. requirements of the Speedy Trial Act. This waiver is made voluntarily. No one. has forced, threatened, or enticed me to. sign this waiver. I make this waiver of. my own free will and accord." Why did he. do that? We're going to discuss. Also, bond. Okay, so he was released on a. $100,000 unsecured bond. So, he's out. Now, there's certain conditions. Like, he can't violate the law. He has to. provide a DNA sample if it's asked of.

him. He can't possess a weapon. He has. to either get a job or maintain a job, surrender his passport, can't leave. South Carolina, has to wear an ankle. monitor, not contact any witness in the. case. That last part really significant. in that he is accused of sending. intimidating texts to a witness who was. apparently working with the FBI. And. what's interesting about that is you. have assistant prosecutor L. Klein who. warned the court that the FBI searched. Miller's home. And apparently they found.

this large safe containing cash and. silver and baseball cards among other. items, that he had access to a private. plane. So, their argument was, "This guy. is a flight risk. He needs an ankle. monitor." Klein saying the victim's. family would feel safer with the. location monitor. Now, Miller's. attorney, Nathan Williams, argued, "Look, JP, he's lived in Myrtle Beach, this area, for most of his life. He's. not going to run away. He's not a flight. risk. He came to court after getting the. original summons. He shouldn't have to.

be monitored." The court clearly wasn't. persuaded. He's got to wear an ankle. monitor. And one more thing to note. about the day's events, after the. arraignment, when asked by the media if. there would be more charges against. Miller, US Attorney Brian Sterling only. said that the investigation was ongoing. By the way, Prosecutor Klein said that. Mica's family is fully supportive of. this investigation, saying, "We're in. constant contact with the victim's. family. We're trying to respect them as. they're going through this because while.

Mica's gone, she's certainly not. forgotten, and we want to stand by them. through this whole process, and I think. they'd be happy with today's result.". Now, needless to say, there are a lot of. eyeballs on what happens to JP Miller in. his criminal case. I mean, it was. reported that the courtroom for this. initial stage of the process was just. filled with Mica Miller supporters, all. dressed in purple. Outside, there were. those releasing purple balloons, and you. had supporters holding signs. In fact, we're going to bring on Mica's attorney, Regina Ward, in a few minutes, who our.

understanding she was there during this. this court appearance. Get her. perspective on it. But, I have to. mention this. What makes this all the. more notable, what makes this all the. more shocking, is that we're talking. about a pastor at former Solid Rock. Church in Myrtle Beach who came under a. lot of suspicion and a lot of. spotlights, and a lot of theories after. Mica died. Remember, when right after. she died, JP delivers this message to. his congregation. I mentioned shocking?

I think this shocked everyone. I got a. call late last night. My wife has passed. away. Yeah, it was a it was self-induced, and. it was a up in North Carolina. Y'all. knew that she wasn't well mentally, and. that uh she needed her medicine that was. hard to get to her. This is essentially. how he broke the news. And by the way, Mica's body was found in a North. Carolina state park, reportedly 2 days. after serving JP Miller with divorce. papers. There was this separation. process that was ongoing. And almost. immediately after people heard the news.

that she died, there were rumors that. started flying that Miller could have. had something to do with Mica's death. To be clear though, there is no evidence. to support that. There is no evidence. that he was actually involved in what. happened to her. He wasn't even in the. area when this happened. The medical. examiner confirmed that Mica's fatal. gunshot wound was self-inflicted. But, there was a lot of accusations that. Miller had been abusive to Mica. And by. the way, that included from Mica. herself. Like, just months before she. died, she made this call to 911 claiming.

her husband had assaulted her. 911, I. just hit emergency. Hi, um I have somebody who I believe to. be in a manic state and is a direct. danger to the people in his household. and himself and others. Uh I need an immediate pickup, not the. 72-hour pickup that a spouse can. initiate. I need this to be a little. quicker cuz he is a flight risk. There's. been domestic violence. He put his hands. on me. He pushed me down in front of. thousands of people at Disney World. And.

so, yeah, and his best friend even saw. that happen. He slapped drinks right out. of my hand. I was in the hospital after. that from just a panic attack of what. was happening. >> And Mica also allegedly told police she. was being targeted by Miller, that she. was afraid, that she alleged he was. messing with her car's tires, putting. tracking devices on her car, constantly. contacting her unsolicited. So, arguably. mirroring the allegations in the. indictment, in the federal indictment. So, there are those who've been. following this, who have been actively. supporting Mica after her death, hoping.

for some sort of accountability for. Miller. Although, to be clear, these are. just allegations. He hasn't been found. guilty of anything. But, this kind of. all boiled over. To give you an idea of. this, this all boiled over in a showdown. from November 2024 when Miller allegedly. got into an alleged altercation with a. Mica Miller supporter in a parking lot. This is where he allegedly tapped the. bill of her hat. Miller was later. arrested, charged with third-degree. assault and battery. So, all of this is. going on, and now you have the. conclusion of the first step in the.

criminal case. Okay, so with all that in. mind, let me bring back here on Sidebar. Regina Ward. This was Mica Miller's. attorney, represented her during her. separation proceedings with JP Miller. Thank you so much for coming on, Regina. It's really good to see you. Now, first. of all, for everybody who knows, you. were there yesterday in the courtroom. for this arraignment, front row, right? Like, what was it like in that. courtroom? What was the atmosphere like? Yes, it I was I on the front row. I kept.

changing seats until I got there. And as. far as the the courtroom itself, it's. very beautiful. It's very ominous. You. know you're in a serious place whenever. you get there. The courtroom was packed. and I mean packed like sardines packed. They ended up having to close the doors. and turned away a couple of people, but. there was every seat was taken and. everybody was. there was a lot of sea of purple there. So it was mostly Micah Miller. supporters, right? Why the purple by the. way? Why that color?

Well, purple is the color that. represents. domestic violence. It's what's the color. that's associated with it the movement. against it. And was there anybody there that was on. JP Miller's side? I mean obviously. besides his attorney was anybody in the. gallery for him supporting him? Right. So we did notice when he entered. the courthouse there was no one with. him. He wasn't even accompanied by his. attorneys. They were there though. They. saw him on the inside and of course they. walked with him into the courtroom.

Obviously not present was his current. wife. She was not there and we didn't. see anybody else that was there to. support him in any kind of way. How did he look? What do I mean by that? I mean his demeanor, his appearance. This is you know one of the initial. stages in a federal criminal case. The. stakes are quite serious. How did he. appear to you? Yes, so when he first came in he came in. through the doors that we all came into. We we were not sure if he was going to. enter from a side door within the. courtroom or not, but he came into the.

the regular door and walked right down. the aisle into the well of the court. with his attorneys. He kept his head. down. He didn't make eye contact that I. could tell with anybody. He went. straight with his attorneys over to. defense counsel's table. He had a seat. there. There was a Bible directly in. front of him. He picked it up and. flipped through some pages went to some. passage I guess appeared to be reading a. I don't know that I buy that, but I. think he was just trying to to not look. around and if I I was really wanting him. to look around. I wanted him to see and. feel the strength and the power and the.

presence of the courtroom that he was. sitting in at that time. Did he say. anything during the court of his appear. during the course of his appearance? Right. There were a few times that. he would have had the opportunity to. speak. So for instance the first thing. would would have been the reading of the. the indictment itself in court. He. waived that so his attorneys you know. presented that to him. He also had an. opportunity or had his right to answer. whether he was going to plead guilty or. not guilty to those charges. He did not.

speak that when he his lawyers had that. reduced to writing and submitted that to. court prior to. So the only time we got. to hear him actually speak was when the. court advised him that pursuant to the. federal rule if he's entitled to well. actually according to the constitution. we're all entitled to a speedy trial, but the federal courts they run a tight. ship there. So they have set a rule that. says you have to get your trial within. 70 days and the judge had informed him. that they had just pulled the jury for. this term of court and the next term of.

court will be in March and obviously. that'll be beyond the 70 days. And so. Mr. Miller had the opportunity to insist. on his trial within the 70 days or to. waive it and he chose to waive it and. the court had to ask him specific. questions about that waiver making sure. that he had been advised of his rights. that he was doing it freely and. voluntarily without you know any threat. of coercion. So that was the only time. we got to hear him speak. >> And to be clear obviously this happens a. number of times, right? Criminal.

defendants waive the speedy trial. Why. do you think he did it here? What's the. strategic reason? Does he want to some. would say hey listen, you know, put the. prosecution's feet to the fire make them. go to trial immediately. I don't think. that they have the evidence. Then. there's others who say I'm going to. waive it take my time look at the. defense a little bit see what the. evidence is. Why do you think he waived. it? Well, a couple of reasons because the. judge said that the this term of court. the the jury was impaneled starting. today. And so that would that that would just.

wouldn't be wouldn't be reasonable. But. really the bigger thing is that there is. a case that that we file a motion it's. called a Brady motion or a rule five. that is the discovery tool. The defense. counsel probably has already filed that. That's a demand and request for the. prosecuting authorities to turn over all. evidence that they've collected so that. his defense counsel can evaluate the. case that the government has against. their client and advise him accordingly. So obviously and when they serve that. Brady motion. the US Attorney General's office they. have up to 30 days to respond and reply.

to that and so that you know that would. need that that's a smart thing to do as. a defense attorney is to get that. information because you really want to. see well do they do they have a case. that can stick, you know? What about the. ankle monitor? I know there was a lot of. back and forth about you know his. defense attorney said he's not a flight. risk. He has been a part of this. community for most of his life. He's. shown up when he's supposed to shown up, show up, but the other way of looking at. it is they kind of the authorities. revealed what they found in his house,

money, private plane. So there's an ankle monitor put on him. Your thoughts on that? Yes, absolutely. In fact, I was sitting. on the edge of my seat like everybody. else. The judge went through everything. meticulously with the regard to the bond. and the conditions and so forth and the. very last thing he said was he was. granted the ankle monitor and so you can. just feel a sigh of relief in that. courtroom. Obviously the judge agreed. with the US Attorney General's office. that he needed to be tracked that there. was a potential for a threat to society. in some degree because he had actively.

sought the addresses for Micah's family. members. He actually sought addresses. for potential witnesses in the case. That's some scary stuff and so the judge. is not going to allow him to you know. just move about without monitoring and. you know I've heard some other folks say. this is poetic justice, right? Mr. Miller stalked and tracked Micah for. months, years and now he's being tracked. by the government. So how's that feel? By the way, the majority of supporters.

there. what were their thoughts regarding what. happened in court watching Miller? I. mean why were they there? What were they. hoping for because there's people who've. been following this for a while they're. invested in it. They're looking to see. what results from this. And I made it. clear and I'll say it again, you know, he's innocent until proven guilty, right? These are allegations, but the. majority of people that were there maybe. people you even spoke to what are they. there for? What are they looking for? Yeah, absolutely. A couple of things. Number one of course is justice for.

Micah herself after learning what she. was subject to but you know by Mr. Miller it's insensitive a person to. think that someone can get away with. treating someone like that and not be. held accountable. The other thing is. that it's bringing validation to other. people in similar situations. It's also. putting a light on the deficiencies that. we have in our government with regard to. protecting people who are in these. domestic violence situations. And. remember this is coercive control type. of abuse. The federal government.

recognizes it, but the state government. here in South Carolina doesn't. And. we're working on trying to change that, but the supporters that are there they. were not only thinking and demanding. justice for what happened to Micah, but. also it brings about justice for others. who are in similar situations by. bringing a light to it and and holding. someone actually accountable. Most. people who are subject to domestic. violence feel like that their abuser. just gets away with things and a lot of. times they do. They get away with a lot. of things. And so it's just reassuring. and uplifting to know that finally it's.

being recognized and the. criminal system is dealing with it and. making making a very good example out of. Mr. Miller. Now as we mentioned before. he's pled not guilty to the charges. I. believe he's being represented by an. attorney named Nathan Williams. Do you. know anything about Nathan Williams? I don't know him personally. I haven't. had any interaction with him and I think. he's in a different county than I am. Of. course I did look up look him up and he. seems to have very good credentials. In. fact, I said you know Mr. Miller did not.

hire cheap lawyers over there. He's got. some it looks like very skilled and. professional attorneys with some lot of. experience with them. What did you make of the fact they're. already saying they found all of this. cash, the silver, the baseball cards in. this safe in his home? It was always. interesting to know what was found in. his home pursuant to that search. warrant. What did you make of that? Yeah, so I I wasn't surprised. Of course. Micah had disclosed to me that he did. have a safe. She mentioned that he kept.

multiple guns in there and other things. and then she knew that he had cash in. the safe. So again that finding by the. FBI through the search warrant and. coming across that safe also. corroborated and gave credibility to. Micah's. essential testimony about what was there. and so. I'm truly not surprised at that and. it was nice to hear that everything that. we had suspected what actually the FBI. had uncovered. And by the way for people. who don't know your.

connection involvement in this. investigation. Correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't the Feds issue you a subpoena for. items in your possession? Is there. anything you could tell us about that? Yes, they did issue a subpoena. That was. in the summer and that you know of. course I couldn't speak of that and no. one knew that even an investigation was. going on. At that time when I received. that there was the opportunity to appear. before the grand jury and testify or. simply turn over the materials. And of. course as an attorney we have a duty to. protect confidentiality of our clients'.

information and so forth and so that by. virtue of the subpoena then I could turn. that over and also had permission with. the family as well to turn that over. And so that it was all the things that. Micah had given me that corroborated the. things like the photos. of the tracker and all the police. reports and text message threads and her. journal entries and things like that. I. saw all of that actually. in the indictment. It seemed like it. just followed the things that she had. provided. I basically said that before,

like all the allegations that Micah was. making seemed to mirror the allegations. in the indictment and what he's charged. with. Um I want to ask about Micah's. family in a minute to see how they're. doing through the course of all this, but. I have to ask you about something that. happened. You hear US Attorney Brian. Sterling after the arraignment when. asked, you know, are there going to be. more charges? Only said the. investigation was ongoing. What does. that tell you? Yeah, well, I've felt. that it had to be ongoing because in. terms of that search warrant, I would. not be surprised if there's some sort of.

financial crimes that may come out of. that. I don't have any personal. knowledge about that. That's just me. surmising and based on some of the. things that were told to me by Micah and. support. So, I was happy to hear that it. was still an ongoing investigation. because I'm quite certain that that. there's probably more to come. At least. I'm hopeful there is anyway. And we'll. keep a careful eye on. to see if anything should result in, you. know, new charges, a new indictment. With respect to the charges that he's. facing, with respect to the current. case, what is it we can expect next? You. know, according to WPTW,

the prosecutors, they want, quote, all. prior statements in Miller's possession, if any, given by witnesses that he. expects to call, all books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects. or portions of any that Miller owns, has. custody of or controls, results of all. physical and mental examinations. undergone by Miller, criminal records of. any potential witnesses. Miller's. attorney wants the same with respect to. the prosecution's witnesses. Very. standard during the course of like, you. know, discovery in the criminal process. They want to know how they're going to. be able to maybe impeach the witnesses.

that are called by both sides. Pretty. standard, but I believe his next hearing. is in March, right? So, what can we. expect regarding next stages of the. criminal case for John Paul Miller? Yeah, so what will be happening right. now is that. exchanging of reciprocal discovery and. evidence in the possession of each each. side. Whenever his attorneys receive the. information from the US Attorney. General's office, they most likely will. file some motions to either challenge. some of that evidence, be it, you know, file motions to keep it out of court or.

challenge the way it was obtained and. things like that. So, that's a maneuver. that's used in defense counsel to weaken. the government's case against their. client. So, that'll be the discovery. phase and then the court, the judge had. mentioned that the next term of court is. in March. So, there's a possibility that. Mr. Miller can go to court or go to. trial in March. Now, they can ask for a. continuance to move to the next term of. court, which would be probably sometime. in the summer, but right now as it. stands, it appears that the next. opportunity for him to go to trial will.

be in. with the next term of court in March. Let's go back to Micah's family. What. can you tell us right now, if you can, about how they're doing? This, I have to. imagine, is a lot of different emotions. right now. How are they doing through this part of. the criminal process, this next stage? You know, there's obviously were big. developments this week. Can you tell us. how they're doing? Yes, absolutely. Of course, they, you. know, they have um.

basically trust in the system to work. It seemed, you know, it works a little. slow, but it seems to be working so far. Some people have asked, you know, were. they in the courtroom? And they were not. in the courtroom at the arraignment. There was it was not necessary for them. to be in the courtroom. I think that it. was the correct action for them to take. because there was a lot of press and I. feel like that they would have been. probably barraged with a lot of. questions. It's highly emotional time. for them regardless, okay? We haven't. gotten to the finish line yet. That's. the thing that matters the most. We're. making the steps to get there, but.

haven't got there yet. And the family. also has a victim's advocate that also. represents and speaks on their behalf in. court as well. But they're they're. leaning on each other and and staying. strong and hopeful. Well, listen, Regina. Ward, I always appreciate you coming on, being so generous with your time, and giving updates on what is happening. on the ground there. You're our eyes and. our ears. Really appreciate it. Thank. you as always and we look forward to. continuing the conversation as JP.

Miller's criminal case progresses. Thank. you so much. Yes, and thank you. Appreciate you. keeping an interest in an eye on this. case. It's important to a lot of people. >> [music]. >> Thank you so much. And that's all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us and as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple [music] Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. [music] to you next time.