Veteran lawman sues, calls transfer punitive

A 20-year veteran of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office says he was demoted and investigated after he agreed to testify in a civil lawsuit against a friend of Sheriff Aaron Kennard.

W. Scott Miller made the accusation in a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, saying the sheriff, Undersheriff James E. Bell and others violated his civil rights and conspired to obstruct justice and intimidate a witness.A former sergeant in the special operations and tactical unit (S.W.A.T. team), Miller said he was transferred to the communications division the same day Kennard learned of his intention to testify in a 1994 lawsuit against Middlekauff Lincoln Mercury.

Middlekauff was sued in federal court by Javier and Melody Cruz, who were injured in a collision with a vehicle that had been stolen from the dealership. Evidence showed the car thief found the keys in the ignition.

The Cruzes' lawyer hired Miller as a consultant and expert witness when the case went to trial in 1997. Miller agreed to testify that the theft was foreseeable by Middlekauff and that stolen cars are more likely to be involved in injury accidents. His testimony was considered "very damaging" to Middlekauff, which ultimately lost the case.

About a week after Miller was deposed in the Middlekauff case, Greg Middlekauff's attorney cal-led Kennard's office to object to the officer's testimony. Miller's suit says Greg Middlekauff is a friend of the sheriff and contributed $500 to his election campaign.

"Kennard became very agitated and within hours thereafter ordered a punitive transfer of Scott Miller from the Special Operations Unit to the communications division," the suit said. "He also immediately ordered the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate (Miller's) involvement in the Middlekauff case."

Miller said the transfer to communications "amounted to a desk job supervising civilian dispatchers" and was tantamount to a demotion. Both the transfer and the investigation were designed to intimidate him and prevent him from testifying, the suit said.

"That's all bull," said Sgt. Jim Potter, sheriff's office spokesman. "The claim that that was a punitive transfer is totally false."

Potter said Miller was one of many officers who were transferred, promoted or reassigned on the same day.

"The discussions leading to those transfers and promotions occurred two to three weeks prior to the order being signed, long before the Middlekauff issue came up," Potter said.

And Potter angrily rejected Miller's characterization of the transfer to communications as a demotion.