Miller's German supporters hired Harvard-educated Wheelock Samuel Upton as lawyer; he filed the case as "Sally Miller v. Louis Belmonti and John Miller (called in warranty)" (1844 La) (later referred to as "Miller v. Belmonti" (1844)) on July 24, 1844 in the First District Court of Louisiana. He sued not only Belmonti but also John Fitz Miller, the planter who originally held Sally Miller. Belmonti was soon dropped from the case, as he was believed to have purchased the slave woman in 1838 in good faith, according to existing laws.