CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. — Mere months after a Charlotte bride was killed by an alleged drunk driver hours after getting married, more developments in court continue to unfold.
The Post & Courier reports 25-year-old Jamie Lee Komoroski will face a circuit judge on August 1 to determine if she can be released on bond from jail as she awaits trial. Komoroski is accused of driving drunk when she struck a golf cart that had two newlyweds aboard it: Samantha Miller and her new husband, Aric Hutchinson.
However, the criminal case against Komoroski isn't the only legal battle to unfold from the tragedy. The Post & Courier reports Miller's mother, Lisa Miller, has filed a motion in probate court regarding her late daughter's estate.
Hutchinson has been listed as the personal representative for Samantha Miller's estate. On Wednesday, attorneys for Lisa Miller filed a motion asking a probate judge to replace Hutchinson with a court-appointed special administrator. She told the newspaper in an interview that Hutchinson's attorneys "road blocked" her despite previous agreements between her and Hutchinson to "do everything together".
The paper reports Miller's attorney alleges that filings related to Samantha Miller's estate - along with the timings of those filings - raised "issues of potential fraud" and "conflicts of interest."
Hutchinson's attorney, however, said that Hutchinson and Miller's marriage made Hutchinson "properly the personal representative" of Miller's estate.
WCNC Charlotte has requested comment from attorneys for both parties. As of publication, responses have not been provided.
The Post & Courier also noted that Hutchinson has previously filed suit against several bars, alleging Komoroski became more and more intoxicated before the deadly crash and demanding accountability from them. Komoroski's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 at the time of the crash, per a toxicology report.
Another legal battle emanating from the case involves local media access to public records in the case. While the Post & Courier had obtained recorded phone calls made by Komoroski from inside the jail, the paper reports the Charleston County Sheriff's Office refused to share those same calls with CBS affiliate station WCSC-TV. The station's parent company filed a complaint in June, and a judge ruled weeks later that the sheriff's office violated South Carolina's public records law.
The paper notes the written order from the judge in the public records case, set to be released later this week, could set a precedent in the state that detainees' phone calls are part of the public record. As of publication, it's not clear if the sheriff's office will appeal the decision.