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It took a day and a half but the lawsuits between John Paul Miller and his former friend Sam Rickman ended with a jury deciding for both parties with Rickman getting the lion鈥檚 share of the awards.

Miller, the pastor of the now-defunct Solid Rock Church and former husband of Mica Miller who died in April of 2024, sued Rickman for invasion of privacy. Rickman counter-sued Miller for abuse of process, invasion of privacy, defamation and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

The jury awarded Miller $100 and Rickman $3,500 with the outcome being that Miller has 30 days to pay Rickman a total of $3,400. Miller asked Judge Nathan Hutson how long he had to file an appeal.

Rickman was represented by Myrtle Beach attorney Regina Ward while Miller represented himself.

Much of the testimony revolved around the death of Mica Miller who authorities ruled died by suicide on April 27, 2024. Her body was found in the Lumber River State Park in Robeson County in North Carolina. After Mica鈥檚 death, protests were held every Sunday across the street from Miller鈥檚 church near the Market Common.

Miller said those protests along with online posts led to the decline in his church鈥檚 membership that eventually caused the church to shut down. The church property was later sold for over $2 million.

In his opening statement, Miller told the jury of four men and two women that he is not a lawyer and had watched the TV show 鈥淪uits鈥� to prepare for the case. He said Rickman had been part of the protests and had posted disparaging comments online about him.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 care about the money,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚 just want the harassment to stop.鈥�

He said Rickman had played bass in his church band and had been a close friend but had turned into a bully.

Ward countered that her client is far from being a bully and was emotionally distraught losing a close friend like Mica. She added that Miller should stop using the 鈥淚鈥檓 not a lawyer鈥� line since he had been in the courtroom many times since Mica鈥檚 death.

She pointed out that Miller had filed legal actions to more than 30 people who had criticized him.

鈥淢r. Miller has a habit of filing lawsuits left and right,鈥� Ward said.

She also added that the term 鈥渂ully鈥� was not in any of the court papers that were filed and Monday was the first time she had heard the word used referring to her client.

Miller had originally said he had not planned to call any witnesses but changed his mind and called Rickman as 鈥渁n adverse witness鈥� which would give him more leeway in asking questions.

For most of the afternoon, Rickman faced questions from Miller and his own attorney. Rickman denied ever posting anything derogatory about Miller, opting, he said, to write monthly memorial messages to Mica.

He said Mica had become a close friend to him and his wife and had been their daughter鈥檚 volleyball coach.

Miller claimed that Rickman had violated his privacy be standing across the street from his church and 鈥測elling at the top of his lungs鈥� and by coming to his house and taking photos.

Rickman acknowledged attending one protest on June 2 and also taking pictures of the FBI raiding Miller鈥檚 home. Ward pointed out through questioning and a video taken of the June 2 protest that Miller wasn鈥檛 at the church on that day or at home during the FBI raid.

Miller had testified that he had called the FBI to investigate and they told him not to be home during their time there.

Testimony revealed that Rickman and his wife Lyndsey had agreed to work for the church in order for their daughter to get free tuition at the church-sponsored Faith First Academy school. Rickman agreed to play bass guitar for the church band and his wife worked one day a week in a teaching capacity.

After Mica鈥檚 death, Rickman said he received texts saying that he had not upheld his end of the agreement and would have to pay back the tuition. Ward presented figures that showed in the regular job market, the work that the couple had done for the church and school would amount to more than three times what the tuition would have been.

Rickman also said that his daughter had been on the A-B Honor Roll the entire school year and was slated to receive a special award at the end of the year. But once the protests began, he received a notice that the grading scale had been changed and not only would she not be getting an award, she was also failing her grade.

Miller said he had nothing to do with the operations of the school.

Ward asked her client why he posted memorials to Mica and attended the June 2 protest.

He said Mica had become a very close friend and he was devastated by her death.

鈥淲e were fed a story about her death that had more holes than Swiss cheese,鈥� Rickman said. 鈥淭he Robeson County Sheriff Department did a terrible investigation. I don鈥檛 think she killed herself.鈥�

Rickman said he learned of Mica鈥檚 death shortly before Miller announced it to the church congregation.

鈥淗e had been doing a regular sermon, laughing and joking, then just announced it at the end of the sermon,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was hurt and angry about how he handled it.鈥�

Rickman also said his countersuit stemmed from the fact that Miller had announced some personal information about him to the church congregation. He said he had given Miller the go-ahead to share his personal Christian testimony but then changed his mind for fear it would cause a problem with his renewed relationship with his father.

鈥淗e gave all the details anyway,鈥� Rickman said. 鈥淚 had to call my mother and get her to not let my dad watch the video of the sermon.鈥�

Miller said he read exactly what Rickman had given him and didn鈥檛 include his name. Rickman said a number of people came up to him afterwards and said they knew the testimony was his.

Rickman also testified that he had designed a website for the Care to Dare mission group the church was affiliated with and that Miller had contacted him to remove some photos from the website. He said he wasn鈥檛 comfortable doing anything with the website of a group that he knew the FBI was investigating.

Lyndsey Rickman said she was okay with her husband鈥檚 posts about Mica because she felt the same way. She said her husband couldn鈥檛 sleep and cried uncontrollably for weeks.

When cross-examining Miller, Ward asked how he could prove that her client was the cause of the church shutting down.

Miller said prior to that time period, his church was bringing in $25,000 a service and he was getting $4,000 a month in salary. Once the protests started, his salary dropped to $2,100 a month.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 think announcing your wife鈥檚 death at the end of a sermon had anything to do with it,鈥� Ward said. 鈥淥r that you went on a date three days after Mica died?鈥�

Miller said it was with his current wife Suzie and that others had been invited but nobody else showed up.

Ward also asked how Miller could pay more than $1,000 a month in child support while just making $2,100.聽

Miller said his current wife makes good money and helps him.

The jury received the case just before 6 p.m. Hutson said he would let them deliberate for an hour or so and if no decision could be reached, he would have them back on Tuesday morning.

When the jurors had a question about one of the cases at 7 p.m., Hutson told them to be back in the courtroom at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning for the answer to their question and they would have as long as they needed to come up with a verdict.

Tuesday morning, the jury sent word they wanted to watch the videos again that had been put into evidence. While the judge, Ward and Miller were trying to decide how best to present the videos, the jury sent word they had reached a verdict.

Following the verdict, Rickman said he was relieved with the jury鈥檚 decision.

鈥淭his was a victory for Mica,鈥� he said.

Ward said she tried to convince Rickman to move the case to the circuit court where the damages could have a higher dollar amount. In magistrate court, the awards are capped at $7,500.

鈥淏ut for him, it wasn鈥檛 about the money at all,鈥� Ward said. 鈥淗e just wanted to hold Mr. Miller accountable and this did just that.鈥�

Miller said that nobody is a winner in situations such as this.

鈥淛ustice is never what we feel,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wish it could have ended with two friends going in a room and shaking hands. I think it鈥檚 arrogant for all these people to call themselves Christians and then slander others.鈥�

He added that he loved Rickman and wished the best for his family.