A trial will be held in June for the two Alaska State Troopers indicted on felony assault charges for their alleged conduct during a May arrest in Kenai.
Both Joseph Miller Jr., 49, and Jason Woodruff, 42, are accused of assaulting Ben Tikka, 37, whom they approached while trying to arrest his cousin early on May 24, according to a complaint by the state attorney general filed in the Third Judicial District at Kenai on Aug. 14.
The complaint says that the two troopers, while trying to arrest Tikka’s cousin, allowed a police dog to repeatedly bite Tikka and kicked him in the head and other parts of the body. The complaint says Tikka was hospitalized with several broken bones, lacerations and open wounds.
A Kenai grand jury on Oct. 30 returned an indictment for both troopers with a single count each of felony first-degree assault. The indictment reads that both Woodruff and Miller “recklessly caused physical injury to Ben Tikka by means of a dangerous instrument.” The instrument is not defined in the indictment. Both troopers submitted “not guilty” pleas at an arraignment on Nov. 14.
At a pre-trial conference held on Wednesday at the Kenai Courthouse, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews and attorneys representing the State of Alaska, Miller and Woodruff discussed scheduling for a trial in the case — ultimately settling on a “date certain” trial scheduled from June 9 to 20 in Kenai.
Only Matthews was present in the courtroom, with representatives of all three parties participating telephonically.
That trial schedule would allow nine days to try the case, Matthews said, excepting Juneteenth on June 19. That date, state prosecutor Daniel Shorey said, works on paper with the witnesses expected to be called in the case — a detail he will be “triple checking” in the coming days.
That date will stretch beyond the speedy trial limit — 120 days from when charges were brought against the two troopers — but attorneys Clinton Campion and Matthew Widmer both said their clients were prepared for a date that far in the future.
“Based on my availability, the court’s availability, I can represent that he will,” Campion said of Woodruff. “I’ll talk to him about that, make sure he fully understands that.”
Woodruff and Miller are next scheduled to appear for a “status conference” scheduled by Matthews for Feb. 26 at 3 p.m.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
