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The Afghan men were allowed to go and continued off into the valley where a battle between Taliban and U.S. “Their IDs looked really sketchy, like they were made on that laptop, but the senior NCO on the ground made the decision that we didn’t have enough to detain them,” Miller said. When the Americans searched the vehicle, they found a laptop along with the rifles and extra ammunition, Miller told Army Times. The man Miller shot was driving the truck with armed, military-age males that day, the soldiers said. "Over there, when we put up a defense, we have to let all the locals through, and of course they disguise themselves as the locals and they come through and they count machine guns and they count trucks and they point out leader trucks.”
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“In past wars, if we set up a line of defense, then nobody would be allowed to come into it," Tinelle said. soldiers in Miller’s platoon were forced to let them go because the armed occupants had the right paperwork to be in the area and the rifles are common enough among Afghan civilians to not warrant long-term detention. The day before, that Afghan was allegedly shuttling men armed with AK-47 assault rifles through their lines to a battle that was occurring in an adjacent valley five kilometers away.ĭerrick Miller on deployment in front of up-armored vehicles and wearing a belt of 40mm ammunition. Tinelle said “there’s no doubt” in his mind that the Afghan who Miller shot was affiliated with the Taliban. The fire was largely focused on the command vehicle Tinelle was sitting in, indicating that the enemy had an understanding of the platoon’s setup. His actions actually probably saved lives.” “Because I put everyone at 100 percent security, when the first volley of RPGs and machine-gun fire came, we avoided a mass casualty situation. “I wouldn’t have done that otherwise,” Tinelle told Army Times. 1st Class Jason Tinelle, who served as the platoon leader on Miller’s deployment due to a shortage of lieutenants, testified that Miller’s actions in 2010 saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.Īfter the shooting, Tinelle had his troops load into their armored vehicles, alerting them that a Taliban attack was coming. Vokey managed to get a special hearing in April 2018 before the Army Clemency and Parole Board that reduced Miller’s sentence based on the issues brought forward, and parole was granted in February of this year.Īt the clemency hearing, retired Sgt. Elijah Cummings, D-MD., emerged as supporters of Miller’s effort to be paroled. “Worse, Derrick, a soldier who killed in defense of his comrades, faces more time in prison than most civilian murderers.” “Derrick, who is African-American, is serving a longer sentence than most of the Caucasian soldiers who committed combat-related homicides,” the project wrote. His premeditated murder charge carried a mandatory life sentence.Įven throwing out Miller’s argument that he acted in self-defense, a University of Chicago Law School clinic wrote in 2016 that the crime would be better described as voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum 15-year sentence. I’ve seen this too many times where investigators don’t play by the rules."įinally, there was also a sentencing disparity in Miller’s case. “Part of the issue with investigators is a lack of integrity. “It does happen,” Addicott, who is not part of Miller’s case, said. Jeffrey Addicott, a former JAG who spent a quarter of his career as a senior legal adviser to Army Special Forces. That isn’t uncommon, according to retired Army Lt.
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soldier changed his testimony after interactions with Army Criminal Investigation Division, some feel that its agents pressured him to change his story. Army Times was given his name, but was not able to obtain an interview.īecause the U.S. The other soldier was also threatened by investigators to be charged as an accomplice in the murder, according to Vokey. Derrick Miller with his mother after being paroled in May 2019.