Brantley, awaiting appeal, to receive mental health treatment
Tampa Tribune (FL)Oct 01, 2014
Brantley was the driver of a car involved in a motor vehicle stop that ended when
Brantley was convicted last year of under the rarely invoked charge of misprision of a felony, with the government alleging she took steps to conceal that Morris was committing the federal offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
U.S. District Judge
Moody convened a hearing Wednesday in response to a defense request that Brantley receive mental health treatment. Defense lawyer
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Brantley was not in court; Irvin said she was admitted to a hospital for tests after complaining of numbness on her right side. Irvin said the symptoms were unrelated to the mental health issue. He expects her to be released from the hospital on Thursday.
Coincidentally, Irvin said he filed his appellate pleadings on Wednesday.
Moody has said reasonable judges could disagree with his decision to uphold Brantley's conviction.
In 2010, Moody initially dismissed the indictment on the grounds the prosecution could not demonstrate that Brantley committed a specific "act of concealment" of Morris's crimes. Moody held that Brantley had a constitutional right to remain silent when questioned by detectives after the murder.
But the indictment was reinstated by the
Ultimately, he ruled "by the thinnest of legal threads" that the jury's conviction was valid, although he found different legal grounds than announced by jurors.
813-259-7837
Twitter: @ElaineTBO
___
(c)2014 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.)
Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at www.tampatrib.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services