Bastrop, Tx–A jury of eight women and four men heard testimony Tuesday relevant to the punishment of a former Elgin policeman who has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in 2007.
Orville Roger Miller Jr. pleaded guilty to three counts of a grand jury indictment before 335th District Judge Reva Corbett on Nov. 10 but asked for the jury, selected the previous day, to assess punishment.
The case began May 4, 2007 when another Elgin police officer found a portable digital “thumb drive” attached to a computer in the department’s squad room and tried to determine its owner. According to testimony Tuesday, sexually explicit video images involving children were found both on the portable digital storage device and on Miller’s personal laptop computer.
With no prior felony convictions, Miller is eligible for probation under state law. Prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office are seeking a prison term. “This is not a probation case,” the lead prosecutors told the jury in an opening statement Tuesday.
The attorney general’s office was asked to take up the investigation and prosecution because it has a specialized computer crimes section, according to testimony by former Elgin police chief Jack Hensley. Miller was fired shortly after the suspect images were discovered, said Hensley.
Defense attorney Tull Farley reserved his opening statement until the state has completed its presentation of testimony and other evidence.
During testimony Tuesday the jury was shown some video images and other digital material recovered by investigators from computer devices linked to Miller, though those images could not be viewed by courtroom observers, including news reporters. The judge rejected a prosecution request to clear the courtroom during presentation of the video evidence, but she did not allow observers to view the material.