Ashley Hall Defendant Committed to Federal Psychiatric Institution in Texas

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Alice Boland, age 30, of Beaufort, South Carolina, was recently ordered to be civilly committed to the custody of the Attorney General pending further court order as explained below.

After the incident at Ashley Hall on February 4, 2013, and her subsequent arrest on state charges, a federal grand jury charged Boland in a four (4) count Indictment with

    making a false statement in order to purchase a firearm,

    illegally possessing a firearm given her status as a person who had been previously committed to a mental institution or who had been adjudicated as mentally incompetent,

    possession of a firearm in a school zone, and

    attempted discharge of a firearm in a school zone.

Boland was then taken into Federal custody. Because of her history and condition, the Court ordered that a psychiatric examination be conducted. This evaluation has been completed and a number of other motions were filed and orders issued. These motions and orders were sealed by the Court. The United States Attorney’s Office made a motion under seal to obtain permission to disclose limited information regarding developments in the case and the outcome of the hearing. By a sealed order, permission was granted. The information that may be disclosed under the Court’s order is limited to the following:

“By order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Alice Boland was civilly committed to the custody of the Attorney General pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d), after the court found by clear and convincing evidence that she is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which her release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another.”

As a result of this Order, Boland continues to be housed in the Bureau of Prisons at FMC Carswell, a federal medical center which also houses females in a psychiatric unit. Because of the operation of the statute by which she was committed, Boland will remain there, in custody and detained, and for an indefinite duration.

The charges are still pending and will remain pending unless and until a court finds that she is no longer suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which her release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another.

The United States Attorney further stated that all charges in the Indictment are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law

The case was investigated by agents of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the City of Charleston Police Department and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Sean Kittrell of the Charleston office for prosecution.