Date: July 9, 2012
by: Brian McMillan | Managing Editor

The pre-trials are scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

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Wednesday will be a busy day for Judge Raul Zambrano in Flagler County.

Paul Miller’s pre-trial is scheduled. Miller shot and killed his Flagler Beach neighbor, Dana Mulhall, March 14, after a dispute about a barking dog. Miller said he was threatened and thought Mulhall was reaching for a gun, so he shot him.

Jason Michael Peters will also have his pre-trial. The 19-year-old is charged with aggravated assault for firing two shots at an occupied home.

Zambrano will hear the pre-trial for Cassimiro Tavares, who is charged with extortion, grand theft and forgery after he scammed a Bunnell-based company out of more than $24,000, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Finally, Zambrano will also hear the pre-trial for William Copeland. That case dates to May 2011, when Copeland shot three bullets into an L-section home, wounding the father of his girlfriend.

Zambrano was scheduled to hear the manslaughter case against William Carson Merrill, the Palm Coast man who shot his wife with an AK-47 on Feb. 21. But the case was moved back to Sept. 4. Merrill has already pled not guilty and told detectives he did not think the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger. He also had 19 firearms in his home, which is illegal because he is a convicted felon.