Opinion ID: 2793140
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Shane Miller’s Testimony

Text: The prosecution called Shane Miller to corroborate Hlinko’s testimony. Miller testified that he was in the Cutlass with Makiel, Hlinko, and Ilich on the night of October 19 (after the murder occurred) and saw Makiel hand something to Hlinko while the men were on the Calumet Expressway. According to Miller, Makiel told Hlinko to get rid of it, and Hlinko tossed it out the window into the Cal-Sag River. Miller asked Hlinko what it was, and Hlinko told him it was a gun. Shane Miller also testified that the four men stayed at Makiel’s house that night for about twenty-five minutes. During that time, Makiel told Miller that he, Hlinko, and Ilich had gone to the Mobil gas station and that Makiel had shot the manager. Another man, Brian Spodach, later dropped by Makiel’s house and gave Miller a ride to Miller’s sister’s house. On cross-examination, defense counsel confronted Shane Miller with a signed statement from February 1990 saying that his earlier statements to police implicating Hlinko and Makiel in the gas station murder were untrue. He testified that the statement was written by Hlinko’s mother and that he signed the statement because she begged him. Defense counsel also pointed out that Shane Miller waited approxi10 Nos. 13-3076 & 13-3777 mately five months before telling the police what he knew about the crime.