Sharee Miller speaks out for the first time since a federal judge ordered her release from prison.
On December 22, 2000 Sharee Miller listened as the jury announced its verdict. The Mount Morris Township woman had been found guilty of second degree murder and conspiracy to murder after the death of her husband Bruce Miller.
In January 2001, she learned her sentence. Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Judith Fullerton sentenced Miller to more than life in prison.
Investigators said Miller influenced her internet lover Jerry L. Cassaday, an ex-police detective, to kill her husband.
After the murder Cassaday committed suicide. Police found a suicide note implicating Sharee Miller in her husband’s death.
Today Sharee Miller is a free woman. A federal judge ordered her release from prison, saying the suicide note should not have been allowed as evidence. The judge says its use violated the U.S. Constitution’s 6th amendment, which says a defendant must be allowed to confront and cross-examine witnesses.
“What does freedom feel like? I will never take anything for granted for the rest of my life,” said Miller in her first interview since her release.
The interview will air on NBC Dateline Friday, March 19, 2010 at 9:00 pm.
She told NBC's Hoda Kotb that Miller believes she will not be sent back to prison. She says she loved her husband, but made bad decisions.
“Because my morals were so bad... that doesn't mean I was capable of murder,” says Miller.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton is working to appeal the judge’s decision to exclude the suicide letter as evidence. If he wins the appeal, Miller would be sent back to prison. If he loses, Prosecutor Leyton says he will give Miller a new trial.
Miller’s attorney David Nickola says he is confident she will be cleared. He says he is willing to take Miller’s fight for her 6th amendment right to the Supreme Court. He also says Cassaday had motive to frame Miller.
In the meantime, Miller says she is trying to catch up on lost time with her children.
“To come home and your little boy has a moustache, your little girl is wearing makeup and bras, it is hard.”
