A Barton County judge has ruled that LaVeta Dawn Miller is competent to stand trial on charges of stealing money that was intended to pay for World War II veterans’ trips to Washington, D.C.
A ruling from District Judge Ron Svaty was filed last Friday, in response to an evaluation requested by Miller’s attorney, Robert Anderson Sr. of Ellinwood. “The defendant is competent to stand trial and assist her attorney in her defense,” the ruling stated. It was based on an evaluation performed at The Center for Counseling & Consultation in Great Bend. The judge also ruled that Miller “does not need further evaluation at the Larned State Security Hospital.”
Miller waived her right to a speedy trial earlier this year. Now that her evaluation is done, Svaty ordered Anderson and Barton County Attorney Douglas Matthews to coordinate rescheduling Miller’s jury trial for February 2014 “or as soon thereafter as it can be scheduled with the court.”
Miller has entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of theft by deception. The state alleges that about $110,000 was stolen from the Honor Flight program, intended to give World War II veterans expense-paid trips to see their national monument. The defendant is the former director of Central Prairie RC&D, once based in Great Bend. She was in charge of Central Prairie Honor Flights, which raised nearly $1.2 million for veterans’ trips between 2008 and 2012. Flights were halted in 2012, however, and that October, Miller was charged after money went missing from the group’s account.