Accused Peeping Landlord Trial Set for September

The trial of an Iowa City landlord who is accused of peeping on his female tenants has been set for September.

And even if he gets through that, he may have more trouble awaiting him.

Elwyn G. Miller, 63, has had his criminal trial in set for Sept. 24 with a pretrial conference of Sept. 20 according to online court documents. Miller was originally scheduled to go to trial in February.

Miller is accused of eleven counts of invasion of privacy for peeping at the female residents. He was arrested on Oct. 31, 2012 after one of his residents reported him spying on her in the bathroom at one of his rental properties at 639 S. Lucas Street. In this incident Miller is accused of watching the woman while nude in the bathroom through a hole near the ventilation fan in the ceiling, according to police reports.

Additional investigation by police later revealed more peepholes in his properties. He is accused of having peepholes in bedrooms or bathrooms at three other units at the Lucas Street property, as well as of spying on another woman at a building he owns at 1024 E. Burlington Street.

Invasion of privacy is a serious misdemeanor charge. If convicted of all counts, Miller could spend up to 11 years in jail.

Erin Jordan of the Gazette reports that Miller could also face additional penalties in the form of civil lawsuits that have been filed against him.

The suit filed by Ruth LaPointe, Jordan Horton and Elijah McNeish, who lived at 1024 E. Burlington St., says the students suffered severe emotional distress as well as “psychological trauma, inability to sleep at night, paranoia, mistrust of men, medical bills, moving expenses and other out-of-pocket expenses.”

Another lawsuit was filed May 23 by Jane Doe, who caught Miller Oct. 31 peeping through a hole he had previously installed in the ceiling of her shower in her apartment at 639 S. Lucas St., the suit states. The unnamed woman called the police that day, leading to Miller’s arrest on invasion of privacy charges.

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The LaPointe civil trial has been set for Oct. 14, 2014.

There are more comments from the civil suit filers in the Jordan article explaining their rationale for filing the lawsuits.