Wayne Co. judge who brought unregistered, loaded gun to DTW faces new charge

The Wayne County judge who brought a loaded firearm through airport security at Detroit Metro Airport in June could face a new charge over the weapon not being registered.

As 7 News Detroit was first to report in June , Judge Cylenthia Miller brought a .380 caliber Smith & Wesson firearm into the airport on her way to a flight to New York.

VIDEO: Watch the original report on the Wayne County judge below:

According to a police report, the gun “was not artfully concealed” and “there was a round of ammunition chambered.”

The gun, the judge told police, was not registered. Her attorney Todd Perkins says Miller has a valid concealed pistol license

“This is not something to be embarrassed about, I don’t think,” Perkins said Monday. “It’s a mistake that occurred. It’s not even a lapse in judgment.”

The judge told a Wayne County Airport Authority police officer that she had obtained the gun “from her brother,” according to the police report, who she said lives in Ohio.

But her attorney now admits that wasn’t true. While Miller has known the man she received the gun from for most of her life, according to Perkins, he is not a relative.

"Why would she tell a police officer something she knew wasn’t true?” asked 7’s Ross Jones.

“We’re all playing Monday morning quarterback with what was going on in her mind,” Perkins said, adding: “She’s a human being, she’s a woman who’s dealing with some very serious issue with her family, she’s in a rush going to the airport.”

While Judge Miller admitted, according to police, that her gun was not registered, she has not been charged over that. Instead, she is currently facing a misdemeanor charge of a “checkpoint violation,” according to the 34 ^th District Court in Romulus.

But after 7 News first reported about the judge’s legal matters last month, the Airport Authority Police issued a second warrant request over the gun not being registered on June 20.

What’s not clear is the severity of the charge being pursued. The judge’s lawyer says Miller is facing a civil infraction, but the Wayne County Prosecutor says police are pursuing another misdemeanor.

Regardless of which it is, neither Perkins nor the airport today could explain why that charge wasn’t sought from the beginning.

“It could be that you and the people in the media world have brought them to task and is this the result of it,” Perkins said. “I don’t know.”

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, who received this most recent warrant request, said they are preparing paperwork to disqualify their office from handling the case, citing a conflict of interest.

Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.