Immunity Hearing for Darius Miles’ Co-Defendant Ends in Minutes

An immunity hearing in the capital murder case against Michael Davis, the co-defendant of former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, was over in mere minutes Wednesday.

It starkly contrasted Miles' own immunity hearing, which stretched out over three days last August and September.  Miles' defense team, led by Mary Turner, interviewed witnesses and investigators and submitted video evidence and more. Still, their efforts ended with Circuit Judge Daniel Pruet declining to dismiss the case on grounds of self-defense.

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The capital murder case against Miles' lifelong friend Michael Davis, who allegedly pulled the trigger and killed 23-year-old mother Jamea Harris, is proceeding separately, and he is represented by a different defense attorney, Birmingham's John Robbins.

Robbins has said since Davis was arrested that he "is not the bad guy," in this situation and did not shoot first.

In a Wednesday hearing to consider a motion to dismiss the case against Davis on grounds he was acting in self-defense, Robbins decided to present no new evidence and no one testified. Instead, he filed a motion asking Judge Pruet to merely adopt the testimony and exhibits that were presented last year by Turner in the Miles case.

Recording devices are not allowed in Pruet's courtroom, making exact transcriptions difficult, but Robbins told the judge that after discussing options with Michael Davis and his parents, they all agreed it would be unwise for him to testify Wednesday. Robbins said he did not feel there was much more he could do to present the relevant testimony and evidence in a different light than Turner and her team did last year.

Pruet first talked directly to Michael Davis, asking if he understood what Robbins was recommending and if that's how he wanted to proceed. When Davis agreed, Judge Pruet indicated he would grant the motion to essentially copy and paste case files from the Darius Miles case.

Davis will return to the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he and Miles have been held without bond since last January. With no new testimony or evidence presented, it's hard to imagine a different outcome for his motion for pretrial immunity on self-defense grounds than Miles got - a rejection from Pruet.

There are not likely to be major new developments in either case until late next month, when Darius Miles and his defense team will make another case that he should be released from jail on bond.

For updates as they develop, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.