ENCINO : Bail in Murder Case Put at $1 Million
Bail was set at $1 million Thursday for an Encino attorney charged with murder for allegedly masterminding a staged
wreck that killed one of the participants on the Golden State Freeway.
Gary P. Miller, 44, whose law office is near Beverly Hills, was arrested at the end of October and included in a grand jury indictment involving 30 defendants. He had been held since then without bail.
Prosecutors allege that he and a “capper-stager” named Filemon Santiago--who is still at large--were responsible for the crash in which a car stopped in front of a tractor-trailer truck as part of a plan to collect insurance money.
Miller’s attorney had attempted to have the bail set at $295,000, the amount Miller’s family and friends have been able to raise.
But Judge Jacqueline A. Connor said she was concerned that Miller might flee or might continue his law practice if bail were set that low.
“You say that you just can’t imagine his flight,” Connor told defense attorney Alan Baum. “ . . . unfortunately, it occurs all the time.”
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