Drunken Deputy's Death Investigation Evolves
By Mary Benton

POSTED: 5:40 pm CDT March 14, 2008


HOUSTON -- The investigation into who and what is responsible for the collision that claimed the life of a Harris County deputy is moving in a new direction, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Jose Vierya has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in Deputy Craig Miller's death. Vierya has been in jail since the night of the accident.

Since toxicology reports showed that Miller's blood-alcohol level was .27 percent, more than three times the legal limit, Vierya's attorney wants the charges dropped.

"I think it supports my client's version of what happened and the fact that he is not guilty," attorney Ronald Helson said.

Miller was off duty on the night of Feb. 21, when a supervisor called him into work. As he drove along the Katy Freeway access road, Miller collided with a commercial truck Vierya was driving.

Investigators said Vierya crossed three lanes of traffic and into the path of Miller's vehicle.

"With .27 blood-alcohol level, it's affected his driving and his perceptions of traffic of around him and his thought processes and his reaction time," Helson said.

Harris County prosecutor Bill Hawkins said it is too early to decide whether the charge against Vierya will be dropped or reduced.

"The fact that we have a victim that's in a less than perfect circumstance does not mean that the law is going to abandon them," Hawkins said. "The law still protects imperfect victims."

Hawkins said investigators will look into a number of factors leading up to Miller's death

"A person can still be held criminally responsible in a situation like this if their conduct is clearly sufficient to cause the result and victim's conduct is insufficient."

If charges against Vierya was dropped, he would be turned over to immigration officials. Officials said he is in the United States illegally. He entered the country on a work visa that has since expired.

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