Northridge Safety Pleads Not Guilty to Rape Charges

A Cal State Northridge football player pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he raped an Agoura woman at his apartment after an evening of dancing and drinking at a restaurant.

Michael Richard Miller, 24, of Northridge, is accused of two counts of rape and one count of forcible oral copulation in an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of June 5.

Miller, a third-string safety from Santa Clara, practiced with the team on Friday.

At Miller’s Oct. 8 preliminary hearing in San Fernando Municipal Court, a 20-year-old woman testified that she and Miller became acquainted June 4 at a Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus restaurant in Northridge.

The woman testified that after meeting Miller at the restaurant, the two danced and drank until about 1:30 a.m., when he asked her for a ride home. Once at the house, the woman testified, she went into his room, where Miller forced her to commit sex acts.

Miller, who was arrested July 11, told investigators that the woman willingly participated in the sex acts. He believes she complained afterward because he verbally insulted her, according to police reports.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Robert D. Fratianne, who presided over Miller’s arraignment, scheduled a pretrial hearing for Nov. 7. A trial date has not been set.

Northridge Coach Bob Burt said Miller will remain on the team and be in uniform when the Matadors play St. Mary’s tonight at North Campus Stadium. “Mike Miller is a person, and just like anyone else, he is innocent until it’s proven otherwise,” Burt said.

Miller transferred to Northridge last year from Santa Monica College. According to the Northridge media guide, he led Santa Monica in tackles in his final year.

The 5-11, 185-pound junior has played little this season and has traveled with the team to only one of its four games on the road.

Times staff writer Mike Hiserman contributed to this story.