Judge Again Denies Bond for Darius Miles in Tuscaloosa Capital Murder Case

Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles was transported back to the Tuscaloosa County Jail Wednesday morning after a judge once again denied a motion to grant bond in the capital murder case against him.

As the Thread has extensively reported, Miles was arrested last January after his friend and co-defendant Michael Davis used a gun he'd just taken from Miles in a gunfight that left a 23-year-old Birmingham woman dead.

Although Miles owned the gun legally and did not pull the trigger, he and Davis were both arrested the day after the shooting and charged with capital murder. Both men have been held without bond since then.

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Attorneys for Miles have sought bond three times - first from District Court Judge Joanne Jannik, who denied it before the two cases advanced to Circuit Court and Judge Daniel Pruet.

Pruet first heard the case to grant Miles bond last May when defense attorney Mary Turner and her team tried to make the case that the former Alabama basketball player and his friend were in fear for their own lives when Miles gave him the gun.

Pruet denied the motion last year but used rare language, saying he was denying bond "at this time," leaving the defense optimistic that the window for bond was still open.

On Wednesday morning, Turner again asked Pruet to grant Miles bond - she noted that last year, the state was still considering seeking the death penalty in this case and that's off the table now.

She said Miles could live with close friends of his family in Phil Campbell, Alabama, wearing an ankle monitor on house arrest, abiding by any conditions the judge saw fit to set.

But while Pruet praised Turner's past efforts to demonstrate that Miles had a clean criminal history, an upstanding family and strong community connections, she has not yet proven her case for self-defense.

Ultimately, Pruet told Turner that spending the rest of his life in prison is probably little more attractive to Darius Miles than execution and he may still be likely to flee from justice and his eventual court date.

Pruet denied the motion and said he would say more about the matter in an official written order, which would come later.

He advised the prosecution and defense to begin making early preparations for a trial - he said he has two older capital murder cases than Miles', but hoped to continue moving this matter through his court in a reasonable timeline.

For more coverage of the Miles case as it unfolds, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.

Editor's note - the use of cameras, recorders, phones and other electronics is forbidden in Pruet's courtroom, making photos from the hearings impossible and exact transcription of quotes difficult.