TAMPA
— An attorney for Dontae Morris wants to delay a sentencing hearing for the
convicted cop killer following the firing of a Tampa police detective who
worked on the case.
Attorney
Byron Hileman filed a motion last week seeking to delay Morris' scheduled May
30 sentencing to await further information on a federal grand jury
investigation of former Detective Eric Houston.
The
detective, a 24-year Tampa police veteran, was
fired April 24 after a department investigator found that he was suspected of
"egregious" conduct, according to Chief Jane Castor. Authorities have
not revealed the nature of the accusations against Houston, citing the ongoing
grand jury proceedings.
Hileman
is seeking to delay the next scheduled hearing to allow more time to assess
whether or how the Morris case might be affected by the investigation.
"If
the sentencing takes place on May 30, 2014, as scheduled, defense counsel will
not be able to adequately assess whether there are issues needing to be
addressed to the trial court," he wrote in a court motion. If the
sentencing occurs that day, it would limit the time Morris' attorneys have to
raise potential arguments for a new trial.
Circuit
Judge William Fuente will consider the motion May 13, Hileman said.
Houston
worked on some of the Tampa Police Department's most high-profile cases. They
included that of Morris, who was convicted last year in the 2010 shooting
deaths of Officers Dave Curtis and Jeff Kocab. A jury recommended that Morris
be sentenced to death, but a sentence has yet to be imposed by a judge.
If
granted, this would be the second delay due to Houston's involvement in cases
surrounding the police officers' shootings. On Friday, a federal appeals court
granted Cortnee Brantley more time to file a brief outlining her case.
Brantley, Morris' ex-girlfriend, was sentenced in June to a year in prison for
failing to tell authorities that Morris was a felon with a loaded gun. She has
been free on bail pending the appeal. The appeal now must be filed May 28, a
month's delay.