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.
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