Alabama AD Greg Byrne explains communicating with Brandon Miller's legal team

On Tuesday, police testimony revealed that Brandon Miller was allegedly in the murder case involving Darius Miles, though he wasn’t charged. According to that testimony, Miles asked Miller to bring the gun.

Since that news came out, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Brandon Miller. In particular, a lot of people aren’t happy that Alabama has allowed him to keep playing, even though he isn’t being charged. Miller hired a legal team, and athletic director Greg Byrne explained the type of communication he has had with Miller’s legal team.

“Any communication, no, because we’re around Brandon. Nate is around him a lot more on a daily basis than I am.” Greg Byrne said.

“But, when it comes to things with this case, we want to make sure that we’re being transparent with him and his legal representation. We think that’s something that’s right for him, that’s right for any student, and as a parent, I would want the same thing for my son. That’s the path that we’ve taken.”

Jay Town, a former U.S. attorney and prosecutor, says that it was the right decision not to charge Brandon Miller.

“Based on what we know, the declination by the Tuscaloosa DA is correct and Miller should not be charged. It doesn’t appear evidence exists that Miller knew that transferring the firearm was for an unlawful purpose, hindsight notwithstanding,” Town said.

“Therefore, no (conspiracy or aiding and abetting) would apply. It doesn’t seem there is a federal theory of prosecution either.”

This, however, hasn’t helped Miller and Alabama shake controversy. He played on Wednesday night against South Carolina in a game where Gamecocks fans chanted, “Lock him up,” at Miller. Later, there was a fight in the stands while Miller shot free throws and he hit the game-winning shot in overtime.

Meanwhile, much of the controversy comes back to head coach Nate Oats‘ initial statement, which seemingly downplayed the incident. He has since apologized for his comments.

Alabama’s statement

Once news broke of Brandon Miller’s involvement in the deadly shooting, Alabama released a statement about him and the situation.

“UA Athletics continues to cooperate fully with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation of this tragic situation. Based on all the information we have received, Brandon Miller is not considered a suspect in this case, only a cooperative witness,” the release read.

“Today’s statement from Brandon’s lawyer adds additional context that the University has considered as part of its review of the facts. Based on all of the facts we have gathered, Brandon remains an active member of our team.”

Attorney for Brandon Miller released a statement

The attorney for Brandon Miller recently released a statement on his behalf. The goal of which was to provide additional facts about the situation.

“Mr. Miles texted Brandon and asked him to bring his firearm. Brandon subsequently arrived at the scene to pick up Mr. Miles. Brandon never got out of his vehicle or interacted with anyone in Ms. Harris’ party. He was never involved in a verbal altercation with Cedric Johnson or Mr. Davis,” read the statement.

“Brandon never touched the gun, was not involved with an exchange to Mr. Davis in any way, and never knew that illegal activity involving the gun would occur.”