file photo/paNOW Staff

By Charlene Tebbutt

bomb threat

Man found guilty in Walmart bomb threat case

May 17, 2019 | 5:00 PM

A 39-year-old man has been found guilty of calling in a bomb threat to a local business in order to escape arrest two years ago.

Carlyle Clint Miller was convicted this week of uttering threats and obstruction of justice stemming from an incident in Prince Albert in April of 2017. Miller was found not guilty on a charge of mischief.

Provincial Court Judge Bob Lane ruled it was Miller who asked a friend to call in the threat as police officers zeroed in on a trailer in the back yard of a residence. Police were looking for Miller in connection with a high-speed chase a couple days earlier when they got a tip that he was hiding in a trailer parked behind a home on 14th Street West.

The call was traced to within a block of the trailer, where Miller was found inside with two other people.

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A search of the cell phone show messages to another man asking him to talk to police about getting a search warrant before entering the trailer. Once inside, officers looked at the unlocked cell phone and found the messages asking someone to call in a bomb threat at Walmart.

Miller’s defence lawyer had argued the police search of the cell phone was illegal and there was no way to prove for sure who sent the messages. Lane allowed the search though, and said “the accused actively participated in the conversations.”

The court case has been ongoing for months. In convicting him, Lane credited Miller with always being on time and being respectful throughout the court process. It’s one of the reasons Lane declined to order Miller back into custody while he awaits sentencing in the case.

“I am so impressed, you have demonstrated something to me something special, quite honestly, and that will work in your favour,” he told Miller Thursday. “You have demonstrated to me that I can trust you, you will come back.”

Lane ordered a pre-sentence report ahead of Miller’s scheduled sentencing date July 22.

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt