Mann’s trial continued, weekend jail requirement challenged
For the Enquirer
A former chiropractor charged with attempting to murder his wife by poisoning her with lead from his Decatur office had his trial delayed, over his objection, just days before it was scheduled to begin and he is now challenging his bond conditions.
According to a motion filed Thursday in Morgan County Circuit Court, Judge Charles Elliott granted the prosecution’s verbal request to delay the scheduled Nov. 18 jury trial and it will now be set for sometime in March.
Brian Thomas Mann, 36, of Hartselle, was arrested in September 2022 after being indicted for the attempted murder of his wife, with whom he’s currently in divorce proceedings. He was conditionally released from jail after posting a $500,000 bond in January.
Since his release, as a condition of his bond, he’s been required to wear a GPS ankle monitor and stay in the Morgan County Jail every weekend.
He must report to the jail by 8 p.m. every Friday and is not released until 6 a.m. Monday.
Mann’s attorneys have attempted to remove this bond condition several times, without success. Mann’s Huntsville lawyer, Chad Morgan, argues in the motion filed Thursday that the bond condition should be removed since a delay of the trial was made at the Morgan County District Attorney’s Offices request and over the objection of Mann.
“Since Janu ary 2023, the Defendant has adhered to all of this Honorable Court’s orders,” according to the motion. “The Defendant has turned himself in every week end, he has made his weekly check-ins with Morgan County Community Corrections, and he has had no contact with the victim of any kind.
“Further, Defendant has proven that he is not a flight risk and is in constant communication with the undersigned counsel.” The motion asks the judge to remove the condition of turning himself in to the jail every weekend, and instead just require that Mann wear an ankle monitor.
Other bond conditions not challenged in the motion are that Mann submit to drug screens and that he not possess alcohol and that he have no contact with his wife.
In support of the motion, Mann’s attorney quoted a court case saying that “bail is intended to enable an accused to remain out of jail until the next proceeding in the case,” and that pretrial confinement should not be used as a punishment since the defendant is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
Elliott had not ruled on the motion as of Friday evening.
On Oct. 30, Mann’s attorney filed a motion to exclude from the trial evidence of lead in the victim’s urine due to alleged mishandling of the evidence by Hartselle police.
“Such a procedure to extract the alleged lead from the urine was done in the back parking lot of the Hartselle Police Department using a five-gallon bucket and a strainer,” the motion claims.
The judge on Monday issued an order that his “ruling … is deferred until this case is assigned for trial.” Mann’s divorce is currently scheduled for a bench trial on Dec. 16. Elliott is also the judge in that case.
According to his wife’s complaint for divorce, Mann poisoned her by “intentionally causing her to unwittingly ingest particles of lead,” leading to her hospitalization at UAB from Jan. 18 to March 3. Mann has denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty in the criminal case.
In a search warrant application submitted to the Morgan County Circuit Court in May 2023, Hartselle police Lt. Alan McDearmond said he was contacted by the Morgan County Department of Human Resources on Jan. 26, 2022, and advised that Mann’s wife was unresponsive at UAB Hospital and was a possible victim of intentional lead poisoning.
McDearmond said investigators questioned Mann at the time about any lead sources that his wife could have ingested.
“Brian told investigators he only knew of (his wife taking) one vitamin capsule, one prescription pill, one gummy and one prescription powder,” McDearmond wrote.
All efforts to find a source of lead that could have been used to poison Mann’s wife were unsuccessful, McDearmond said, “until speaking with a subject that said he installed lead in the walls of an X-ray room at Advanced Chiropractic,” Mann’s Decatur business.
The contractor “said he had thought about the possibility of the lead being used to poison (Mann’s wife) and wanted to report it to the police,” McDearmond said.
McDearmond said the contractor installed eight rolls of lead in the walls of the X-ray room about a year before Mann’s wife was hospitalized.
According to the contractor, McDearmond said, “there was lead left after the job was completed and the lead was left with Brian Mann.” McDearmond requested a search warrant of Advanced Chiropractic so he could take samples of the lead that had been installed.
“Investigators have lead taken from the body of (Mann’s wife) while she was in the hospital,” McDearmond wrote. “Investigators wish to compare the lead taken from (Mann’s wife) to lead located at 2112 Sixth Ave. S.E.,” at Advanced Chiropractic.
Elliott authorized the search of the building and the investigator later filed a search warrant return advising that he had removed lead from the X-ray room wall.
