News brief: Judge to decide if B Street murder defendant competent for trial

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One expert says he is competent to stand trial and another expert says he is not.

Centralia resident Weston G. Miller, 30, is charged with first-degree murder in the March shooting death of his house guest, 43-year-old David Wayne Carson.

Miller told police he acted in self-defense, but Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer has said it was unprovoked attack in his house on B Street.

The former welder was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, after police searched the home and found five guns, a silencer, a laser site for a gun and a bullet-proof vest.

Miller appeared briefly in Lewis County Superior Court this morning when lawyers scheduled a half-day hearing for next month.

Meyer said an evaluation conducted by Western State Hospital concluded Miller is competent and a defense expert concluded he is not.

A judge will hear from both sides on August 15 and make a decision, according to Meyer.

Carson, a Centralia resident who had just signed up for college and was going to learn to fly so he could go work in Alaska, died of two gunshot wounds to his chest area on March 13.
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For background, read “B Street homicide: Defendant says self defense” from Wednesday March 14, 2012, here

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 12th, 2012 at 6:12 pm and is filed under News briefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “News brief: Judge to decide if B Street murder defendant competent for trial”

  1. heart broken says:
    Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    tHE TEARS ARE STILL SCARED ON OUR FACES FOR DAVID AND THE QUESTION STILL REMAINS WHY DID SARA AND WESTON PLAN SUCH A BURTIAL MURDER.HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE WITH SARA SO SHE DIDN’T WANT ANYONE TO HAVE HIM SHE IS SAINTAN….