Tennessee man sentenced to death in 2018 killing of Dickson County deputy seeks new trial
A man sentenced to death in the 2018 killing of a Dickson County deputy is hoping to get a new trial.
Steven Wiggins was found guilty in 2021 of premeditated first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, theft of property, criminal impersonation, filing a false report, arson and abuse of a corpse after Sgt. Daniel Baker was shot to death while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in May 2018.
Wiggins was sentenced to death on those charges. In April 2022, he pled guilty to carjacking and firearms violations in federal court in connection with the case and was sentenced to life in prison.
On Tuesday, attorneys Luke Evans and Robert Kurtz appeared before Dickson County Judge David Wolfe about a motion for a new trial in Wiggins' case. No details regarding the basis for the motion were discussed during the roughly four-minute hearing.
Wolfe set a Dec. 9 deadline for prosecutors to respond to the motion, then set a hearing date on Feb. 4, 2025.
Baker's death captured on body camera footage
Baker's body camera footage played a key role in Wiggins' trial.
Footage showed Baker radioing information about the suspicious vehicle he was dispatched to investigate. Dispatchers told Baker the vehicle, driven by Wiggins, was reported stolen the day before by Erika Castro-Miles, Wiggins' girlfriend at the time.
Baker asked Wiggins to get out of the vehicle. Wiggins told Baker the driver door wouldn't open so the deputy moved to the passenger side.
Then there were gunshots.
Baker, who'd been hit, tried to flee. The deputy ultimately died after three shots to the head and two to his torso. His body camera kept recording.
Wiggins pulled Baker's body into the backseat of his patrol car, then drove away, answering the deputy's cell phone and radio and pretending to be him.
Baker's body and burned patrol car were later found about two miles from the scene of the shooting. The discovery kicked off a multi-hour manhunt for Wiggins. Around 8 a.m., more than 48 hours after the shooting, Wiggins was captured in Hickman County.
What the motion says
In the 42-page motion, filed in June, Evans outlines a dozen reasons for a new trial.
"Although individual errors may constitute harmless error, the cumulative effect of multiple errors may require reversal to uphold a defendant's right to a fair trial," Evans wrote in the motion. "Each of the errors set forth in Mr. Wiggins' Amended Motion for New Trial is sufficient, standing alone, to warrant a new trial."
Evans argues there were errors in judgement on the part of the trial judge, and errors of improper evidence submission by prosecutors.
He also argues that there was not enough evidence presented to prove premeditation, a requirement of the first-degree murder statute, or that theft of Baker's patrol vehicle was the driving intent of the shooting, a requirement for the felony murder charge.
"There was no proof of any prior relationship between Mr. Wiggins and the victim. There was no proof that Mr. Wiggins threatened to kill the victim in the case," Evans wrote. "Although Mr. Wiggins possessed a firearm, there was no proof that Mr. Wiggins procured the firearm for the purpose of killing the victim."
Evans claimed in the motion that District Attorney General Ray Crouch, Jr. should have stepped down from the case because his "display of personal fidelity and bias towards the decedent's family and law enforcement in this case required recusal.
"General Crouch aligned himself publicly and politically with the decedent's family and local law enforcement," Evans wrote. "Examples of this include General Crouch's social media posts as well as his efforts to pass legislation that would have a direct impact on Mr. Wiggins' case."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN man convicted in Dickson County deputy's death seeks new trial
