By Sufi Sadati
The continuation of the Brian Miles trial proceeded today in Department 7. The defendant is accused of child abuse and corporal punishment of his two daughters.
Unconventionally, the defense called Aaron Moe, an investigator for the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office to the stand. Mr. Moe has been an active investigator, assisting with the DA’s office in compiling cases for around six years and was assigned to Miles’ case.
He was questioned about his telephone conversation with the alleged victims’ grandmother. He revealed to the jury some of the victims’ history with the sleep inducing medicine, melatonin, which she was given by her mother.
She explained to Mr. Moe that the mother administered the drug to the alleged victim “because she had anxiety and night terrors” and that she, the grandmother, had never given the child the half-tablet herself.
There was no mention of any form of abuse.
After this relatively short testimony, the victims’ stepmother and current wife of the defendant, “AM,” gave her account.
As a full time aspiring nursing student, AM co-parented the defendant’s daughters along with “KA,” the children’s biological mother. She described their relationship as cordial.
On the weekend of December 3, the two girls were staying at the Miles’ home. The family originally only saw the girls on weekends, however, they changed to the 2-2-5-5 plan, allowing them to have them 
Wednesday through Sunday.
Both attorneys asked her to give a detailed account of the day.
Sunday December 3, AM took the girls shopping. During the spree she noticed one of the daughters was coughing and had a runny nose – symptoms she attributed to recurring seasonal allergies. When they arrived home, Miles had returned from work and had made the family dinner. This is where the witness noticed a rash around one of the victim’s left eye, and gave her Benadryl. Around the meal prepared by the defendant, the witness recalls there being diced tomatoes in the meal. Rash bumps she attributed to allergies were commonly referred to as “tomato bumps” in the family. Apparently, she had seen marks and rashes similar to this prior to the December 2017 complaint and contacted the girl’s mother. Pictures of the same rash were taken before, in May 2017.
Later, the girls went to take baths and ended up in the living room where their parents were. The defendant was reportedly on the floor watching television while the two girls came into the living room to have their hair routinely braided by their stepmother.
As the witness described, the children began “playing around” and “rough-housing” with their father, which was the norm in the household. She felt no need to step in because she saw absolutely no threat, as the kids were laughing and bantering. The point of interest came when AM was questioned about one of the girls crawling in between her father’s legs.
To her recollection, one of the girls had crawled in between her father’s legs and they were intertwined in a scissor like fashion. However, she claimed it was playful and at no point did the girl showed she was in any distress. Eventually, the girls went to bed and were dropped off by AM the next morning.
In the four years of her marriage, she had never seen, heard or personally faced abuse from Brian Miles.
She was not aware that Miles had told counselors he had used corporal punishment in the past. AM claimed she did not know he had allegedly used his legs to squeeze and choke two separate victims.
The prosecution was quick to react with a series of questions testing the foundation of her given statements.
When asked how the couple disciplined the children, she answered it was always done by Miles. Punishment was a loss of privileges such as tablet time or television, with no mention of anything physical.
However, on December 4, after AM dropped the girls off at school, they were taken to the hospital by their biological mother. This was information no one had relayed to AM. In fact, the witness noted the demeanor of the girls was happy and cheerful the morning they were dropped off.
Shockingly, it was revealed that AM did know about the previous accusations against Miles. Diverting the question previously asked was purely based on a technicality which she pointed out – she had no knowledge of what the defendant said to the counselor but she was familiar with the allegations against him.
The deputy district attorney asked if that was how she viewed them, which she unequivocally confirmed.
The trial is expected to resume 9:00 am Thursday morning.
