Accused killer Miller wants to plead guilty

The Scottsdale man accused of committing the Barrington Estates quintuple killings wants to plead guilty and to represent himself at his trial, his attorney said Monday.

Defense attorney Phil Noland said William C. Miller sent a motion to the court saying he wanted to plead guilty, but the court returned it to him, determining it was not “properly before the court” because Noland still represents him.

Noland said Miller sent a second motion asking Judge Margaret Mahoney of Maricopa County Superior Court to allow him to represent himself.

Mahoney has ordered a mental examination for Miller to ensure he is competent to represent himself.

The court also will withhold a decision on Miller’s request to plead guilty until after

the examination, Noland said.

Chandler defense attorney Marc Victor, who isn’t affiliated with the Miller case, said it is almost unheard of for a judge to bar a defendant from pleading guilty to an indictment without a plea deal, but Mahoney is probably taking extra care because it is a death penalty case.

“Death is different,” Victor said, quoting a long-held U.S. Supreme Court principle on the death penalty.

Miller’s case, like all death penalty cases, will be automatically appealed and be heavily scrutinized, especially in Arizona, where appeals go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeals court is “generally pretty hostile” toward the death penalty, Victor said.

Pleading guilty and defending yourself also requires a higher standard of competency than standing trial, Victor said.

Someone only needs to understand the proceedings against him and be able to assist his attorney to be considered competent to stand trial, but a person who pleads guilty has to comprehend that he is giving up rights to a trial.

“They’re important rights,” Victor said.

And while Miller has a right to represent himself, Mahoney will probably discourage it — typical of judges in any case, he said.

Miller is indicted on various charges, including five counts of first-degree murder and four counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, in connection with the Feb. 21, 2006, slayings of five people at 2208 S. Barrington Estates.

The victims were Steven Duffy, 30, his brother Shane Duffy, 18, Tammy Lovell, 32, and her children, Cassandra Lovell, 15, and Jacob Lovell, 10.

Authorities believe Miller wanted to silence Steven Duffy and Tammy Lovell, his former employees who were informants in an arson case against him.

Miller, who owned Puroclean of Scottsdale, is accused of burning down his Scottsdale home in November 2005 to collect the insurance.

Miller was in court Monday for a scheduled three-week hearing on whether the state can use as evidence tape-recorded statements that Duffy and Lovell had made to police, plus taped conversations between them and Miller.

Typically, statements by witnesses who are dead or missing aren’t allowed because the witnesses aren’t subject to cross-examination.

The state contends, however, that if Miller killed Lovell and Duffy, he has forfeited his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers, according to court records. Mahoney has postponed the hearing indefinitely.