State Trooper Found Guilty Of Simple Assault

GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- A Westmoreland County jury found a state trooper guilty of assaulting his neighbor.

Trooper Christopher Miller was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of simple assault for the altercation last summer.

Terrence Hurd, 72, maintained that Miller attacked him for no reason while he was trimming root balls in his front yard.

Miller claimed that he was acting in self-defense after Hurd swung at him with a pick ax.

A jury was shown two videos of the incident in question. One was surveillance video from a camera on Hurd's home. The other was video from a hand held camera shot by Christopher Miller.

The neighbors have an ongoing feud that has frequently resulted in police being called.

Miller did not testify in his own defense.

The defense rested first thing Friday morning after calling only one character witness Thursday afternoon.

It took the jury nearly four hours to reach a verdict.

Attorneys for both sides speculate that Miller will be sentenced to probation.

State police released a statement regarding Miller's status with the department:

"During the course of this investigation Trooper Miller has been suspended without pay. His status will remain such until an internal investigation is conducted based on the outcome of the trial."

Miller was also charged with one summary count of harassment. The judge will make a decision on that charge after a pre-sentencing investigation.

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