Tuesday, Feb. 3
St. Stephen Provincial Court
Nason
Russell
Miller
RCMP Sgt. Greg MacAvoy talks to reporters
Connell and granddaughterFather charged with murder
By KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca
ST. STEPHEN – A Moores Mills couple has been remanded to custody and ordered to each undergo a psychiatric evaluation after the charges against them were upgraded to first degree murder and manslaughter following the discovery Jan. 29 of a newborn baby’s body in the woods near their home.
Amid unprecedented security at the St. Stephen Provincial Court Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 3, Rodney Stuart Miller, 27, stood and showed no emotion while Judge David C. Walker read a charge alleging that between Jan. 15 and Jan. 23, at Moore Mills, Miller had committed first degree murder on a newborn infant the court is calling Baby Russell.
Likewise showing no emotion, Sarah Marie Russell, 19, stood and was charged that between Oct. 1, 2008 and Jan. 23, 2009, she committed criminal negligence to cause death to Baby Russell, thereby committing manslaughter.
Russell was also charged as an accessory after the fact to the murder of Baby Russell.
After the couple’s court appearance, RCMP Sgt. Greg MacAvoy said Russell and Miller are still facing charges of disposing of a body in an attempt to conceal the birth of a child.
Miller is also facing an aggravated assault charge involving another child and dating back to 2007.
Miller and Russell were remanded to jail Tuesday for 42 days during which time the 30-day psychiatric assessments will be carried out. Miller and Russell will be returned to court on March 17 at 1:30 p.m.
At that time, Judge Walker will review the reports from doctors at the Restigouche Hospital, which will offer opinions as to whether Miller and Russell are fit to stand trial and whether they were suffering from any mental disorder at the time of the alleged offence to make them not criminally responsible.
The doctors will also offer a further determination as to whether Russell’s balance of mind was disturbed due to childbirth at the time of the commission of the alleged offence.
Defence lawyer Joel Hansen, representing Miller, told Judge Walker that he had serious concerns over his client’s mental state and did not feel Miller was in a position to properly instruct him. He asked for the psychiatric evaluation to be conducted on his client.
Defence lawyer Randy Wilson, representing Russell, also requested that his client undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine her mental condition.
Both Miller and Russell spoke quietly, answering yes, when the judge asked if they understood the charges and the requests for the assessments.
Prior to the beginning of the court proceedings before a packed courtroom, the two sat between sheriff’s deputies in the prisoner’s docket. Miller shifted between sitting forward on the bench with his arms resting on the half wall before him or his head propped up on his hands with elbows braced on his knees.
Russell barely moved as she sat staring straight ahead, except for the times she glanced briefly at the defence lawyers who were in conversation before her. Once or twice she looked past the female sheriff beside her in Miller’s direction.
Russell mouthed words to an older woman with two younger companions sitting in the front row of the courtroom gallery and one of the sheriffs took something from Miller and gave it to the woman.
It was not apparent if anyone from Russell’s family was in the courtroom.
When Hansen asked the judge to consider more than an in-jail mental assessment of Miller, Miller sat through the ensuing discussion with a set jaw and a sullen expression on his face. Russell showed no visible emotion during a similar discussion of her situation.
Besides members of the media, a probation officer and a large number of employees from child protection services, the rest of the courtroom seats seemed to be filled with people who were curious about the case. There were those who appeared to be acquainted with the accused, who were laughing and talking amongst themselves waiting for the court proceedings to begin.
Outside in the hallway, at least four people with babies or young children were refused admittance to the court along with a man who had shouted obscenities and called Miller and Russell “baby killers” outside the building as they got out of the sheriff’s van and entered the lock up area housing jail cells in the basement.
A sheriff’s deputy used a metal detector to frisk each person entering the courtroom Tuesday afternoon and searched men’s pockets and women’s purses. At least seven RCMP officers were present during the proceedings that saw about a dozen people stage a mildly vocal protest in the hallway outside the courtroom.
Crown prosecutors in the case are Jim McAvity and Randy DiPaolo.
Amid unprecedented security at the St. Stephen Provincial Court Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 3, Rodney Stuart Miller, 27, stood and showed no emotion while Judge David C. Walker read a charge alleging that between Jan. 15 and Jan. 23, at Moore Mills, Miller had committed first degree murder on a newborn infant the court is calling Baby Russell.
Likewise showing no emotion, Sarah Marie Russell, 19, stood and was charged that between Oct. 1, 2008 and Jan. 23, 2009, she committed criminal negligence to cause death to Baby Russell, thereby committing manslaughter.
Russell was also charged as an accessory after the fact to the murder of Baby Russell.
After the couple’s court appearance, RCMP Sgt. Greg MacAvoy said Russell and Miller are still facing charges of disposing of a body in an attempt to conceal the birth of a child.
Miller is also facing an aggravated assault charge involving another child and dating back to 2007.
Miller and Russell were remanded to jail Tuesday for 42 days during which time the 30-day psychiatric assessments will be carried out. Miller and Russell will be returned to court on March 17 at 1:30 p.m.
At that time, Judge Walker will review the reports from doctors at the Restigouche Hospital, which will offer opinions as to whether Miller and Russell are fit to stand trial and whether they were suffering from any mental disorder at the time of the alleged offence to make them not criminally responsible.
The doctors will also offer a further determination as to whether Russell’s balance of mind was disturbed due to childbirth at the time of the commission of the alleged offence.
Defence lawyer Joel Hansen, representing Miller, told Judge Walker that he had serious concerns over his client’s mental state and did not feel Miller was in a position to properly instruct him. He asked for the psychiatric evaluation to be conducted on his client.
Defence lawyer Randy Wilson, representing Russell, also requested that his client undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine her mental condition.
Both Miller and Russell spoke quietly, answering yes, when the judge asked if they understood the charges and the requests for the assessments.
Prior to the beginning of the court proceedings before a packed courtroom, the two sat between sheriff’s deputies in the prisoner’s docket. Miller shifted between sitting forward on the bench with his arms resting on the half wall before him or his head propped up on his hands with elbows braced on his knees.
Russell barely moved as she sat staring straight ahead, except for the times she glanced briefly at the defence lawyers who were in conversation before her. Once or twice she looked past the female sheriff beside her in Miller’s direction.
Russell mouthed words to an older woman with two younger companions sitting in the front row of the courtroom gallery and one of the sheriffs took something from Miller and gave it to the woman.
It was not apparent if anyone from Russell’s family was in the courtroom.
When Hansen asked the judge to consider more than an in-jail mental assessment of Miller, Miller sat through the ensuing discussion with a set jaw and a sullen expression on his face. Russell showed no visible emotion during a similar discussion of her situation.
Besides members of the media, a probation officer and a large number of employees from child protection services, the rest of the courtroom seats seemed to be filled with people who were curious about the case. There were those who appeared to be acquainted with the accused, who were laughing and talking amongst themselves waiting for the court proceedings to begin.
Outside in the hallway, at least four people with babies or young children were refused admittance to the court along with a man who had shouted obscenities and called Miller and Russell “baby killers” outside the building as they got out of the sheriff’s van and entered the lock up area housing jail cells in the basement.
A sheriff’s deputy used a metal detector to frisk each person entering the courtroom Tuesday afternoon and searched men’s pockets and women’s purses. At least seven RCMP officers were present during the proceedings that saw about a dozen people stage a mildly vocal protest in the hallway outside the courtroom.
Crown prosecutors in the case are Jim McAvity and Randy DiPaolo.
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