Amish Mother Ruth Miller Denied Bail, Will Remain In Jail. But: Judge Leaves Door Open For Review

Amish mother Ruth Miller, charged with aggravated murder in the death of her four-year-old son Vincen Miller along with related charges, had a bail hearing today at Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court in New Philadelphia, Ohio.

I had a chance to listen to parts of the hearing, which lasted nearly four hours. You can view the proceedings in full at the linked video at bottom.

I’m not going to attempt to summarize all parts of the hearing, though I’ll note the brief summary via FOX 8:

Multiple law enforcement individuals took to the stand Monday to explain how they viewed Miller’s mental health at the scene and afterward while an investigation was ongoing.

The decision by Common Pleas Court Judge Mike Ernest was to deny bail to Miller. And he explained why. More on that below.

Judge Ernest Explains Why He Denied Bail To Ruth Miller

I’ve transcribed what Judge Ernest had to say at hearing’s end, in the lead-up to delivering his decision.

He first explained that he believed it had been shown that Miller presented a risk to others in the community:

“In my assessment in this matter I am coming to the conclusion that the state has presented clear and convincing evidence that you do post a substantial risk of serious physical harm to any other person in the community and that there are no release conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of that person and the community. And I’m going to tell you why.”

The judge cited the example Miller had already shown as far as not listening to others in the community who’d had concerns for her, prior to the incidents at Atwood Lake on August 23:

“In this case, you were told – at least by the evidence that I’ve heard so far – that there were people in the community who had concerns. The bishop was concerned. Your family was concerned.”

“They tried to intervene. They tried to have you listen to reason with them. And I think by clear and convincing evidence, you did not listen to the bishop. You did not listen to your family.”

“And Ruth, I don’t think you’d listen to me if I put conditions upon you in the community. You listened in this case to what you believed God was telling you to do, based on the testimony that I’ve heard at this point in time.”

Based on this, the judge drew the conclusion that he could not reasonably expect Ruth Miller to listen to him, either, leading to his decision to deny bail:

“And that does not leave me assured that you will follow my conditions. For that reason, I am going to deny bail in this case. I’m going to have you held in the Tuscarawas County Jail while this matter is pending.”

Door still open for bail?

The Judge went on to say that the issue of bail could be reviewed, cautioning that he didn’t want to “plant any type of false hope that I would somehow change my mind”.

But the Judge noted that:

“really for the first time, at the end of this hearing, I heard for the first time, that there may be a place that you could go to, other than the Tuscarawas County Jail, for which the community could be assured of the safety of others, and that you would not pose that substantial risk of harm to others.”

As to the “place that you could go to”, I believe this may be in reference to an alternative facility, but am checking the video for more details and will update.

The Judge said that “I’m open to that idea, I simply know nothing about that idea at this time, other than it was floated at the very end of the hearing.” The judge reiterated that he believed the issue of bail was always open to review.

So this sounds like there is a pathway for Ruth Miller to be granted bail at some point in the future.

There was also this, with the judge denying the prosecution’s motion for a no contact order. From WKYC:

Ernest did deny the prosecution’s motion of a no contact order for Miller while the case is pending, stating that he doesn’t believe he can enforce it. “If she were to make phone calls from the jail, I feel as if there’s nothing more I can do to her.”

Previously, the judge ordered “that this matter be set for trial at the earliest possible time.” A telephone pretrial conference has already been set for Oct. 6.

View the full proceedings here:

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