A Kenai superior court judge last week declined to dismiss the state’s case against a former Alaska State Trooper facing a felony assault charge.
Last year, a Kenai grand jury indicted 50-year-old Joseph Miller Jr. over what is alleged to be a violent arrest of the wrong person in Kenai. Another former state trooper, Jason Woodruff, also faces a felony assault charge for his own alleged conduct during the same arrest.
Both pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were first brought after the Alaska Department of Public Safety investigated the case.
According to state prosecutors, Woodruff and Miller were attempting to arrest a man in Kenai who failed to turn himself in for a 10-day jail sentence stemming from a driving violation. During the arrest, prosecutors say body camera footage shows Miller pepper-spraying, tasing, stepping on and kicking the man, while Woodruff’s police dog bites the man.
En route to the hospital, law enforcement learned the man they arrested was not the same man who had the outstanding warrant. The two are cousins and share the same last name. The man who was beaten, 39-year-old Ben Tikka, underwent surgery for injuries he sustained during the arrest, which included a fractured scapula, a dog bite and lacerations on his arm and head.
Earlier this year, Miller’s lawyer moved to dismiss the indictment. He says state prosecutors gave jurors insufficient evidence to support the charge and excluded evidence that was favorable to Miller.
But a Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews disagrees.
The judge’s order denying Miller’s motion says jurors had “more than sufficient” evidence to indict. The order says grand jury proceedings aren’t meant to function like a mini trial, prosecutors only need to establish a probability of guilt, rather than to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Matthews’ order pulls back the curtain on what evidence grand jurors heard prior to handing up their indictment. By design, grand jury proceedings in Alaska are confidential.
The order says jurors considered body-worn camera footage from two officers who were at the arrest, audio from a conversation between Miller and Woodruff ahead of the arrest and testimony from four people. Two of those witnesses are experts on police use of force, and both said the alleged conduct of Miller and Woodruff was unreasonable.
One witness, a chief of police from Utah, told jurors there was no reason to deploy the police dog against Tikka, or for Miller to use his foot to push Tikka’s head into the ground. The other expert witness, an Alaska State Trooper employee with its advanced training unit, said Tikka was not actively resisting arrest and also said it was unreasonable for Miller to tase, kick and put his boot on Tikka’s head.
Earlier this year, the judge delayed Miller and Woodruff’s trial to 2026. As of last December, Miller was no longer employed by the state of Alaska, and the dog used in the arrest was no longer with the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Woodruff was still employed by the state but was taken out of service.
Miller’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment by airtime.
