Dakotah Eliason |
NILES – The Niles teenager convicted of shooting and killing his grandfather last year could get a new trial.
Dakotah Eliason, 16, will be back in a Berrien County courtroom this week as part of his appeals process.
A spokeswoman for the Berrien County Prosecutor said a state defender is laying the groundwork to ask for a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel. She said one of the issues is whether jurors were able to see the shackling on Eliason's ankles during last year's trial proceedings.
Eliason's lawyer for that trial, Lanny Fisher, had no comment.
Eliason was tried as an adult and is now serving a life sentence for shooting and killing his grandfather, 69-year-old Jesse Miles in Miles' home on Niles Buchanan Road.
