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KISSIMMEE, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Jurors in the Everett Miller murder trial spent the morning hearing from medical and forensics experts who claimed to link Miller to a murder weapon and talked about how two Kissimmee police officers died.
Miller faces the death penalty for shooting and killing Officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Sam Howard two years ago.
“Were you able to determine, in your medical forensic opinion, the cause and manner of his death?” the prosecutor asked the medical examiner.“Cause of death was gunshot wounds of the head and the manner is classified as homicide,” the medical examiner replied.
The medical examiner said Howard was shot at twice in the head at point-blank range.
“Were you able to classify that as a close-contact or direct-contact wound?” prosecutors asked.
“I said it was 'near contact,' again because of the stippling. Based on how it's dense, the end of the gun was close,” the medical examiner replied.
After lunch, lawyers grilled potential witnesses in front of the judge. One expert witness said Miller calls himself a "Moorish sovereign," and rejects any kind of authority.
“If you believe you're a protected national of a particular group, US laws don't necessarily apply to you. Unfortunately the people you're most likely to come in contact with are police officers, so there's gonna be a lot of animosity towards police officers,” the expert said.
Prosecutors maintain Miller killed the officers because he hates the government. The defense say Miller suffers from depression and anxiety.
The jury will be back 9 a.m. on Monday to continue Miller's trial.