## Facts

- Courtnee Nicole Brantley drove a car without a license plate in Tampa, Florida, with her boyfriend, Dontae Morris, a convicted felon, in the passenger seat.
- During the traffic stop, officers learned Morris had an outstanding warrant and a history of resisting arrest.
- When ordered out of the car, Morris shot two officers in the head and fled on foot; Brantley drove away from the scene.
- Within minutes, Brantley communicated with Morris by phone and text messages concerning concealing the car.
- Brantley drove to an apartment complex, parked the car away from view, and indicated plans to move it again.
- Police later found the car parked amid bushes obscuring the empty license-plate holder, across a lake from the apartment complex.
- Evidence showed Brantley knew Morris was a convicted felon and knew it was illegal for him to possess a firearm.
- A jury found Brantley knew of Morris’s federal felony (felon in possession of a firearm), failed to report it promptly, and took affirmative steps to conceal it.

## Issues

1. Whether Brantley proved selective prosecution by showing similarly situated individuals were not prosecuted and that her prosecution was motivated by an impermissible discriminatory purpose.
2. Whether prosecuting Brantley for misprision of a felony violated the Fifth Amendment by penalizing her silence.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove misprision of a felony, including knowledge of the federal felony and an affirmative act of concealment.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction for misprision of a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 4.
- The court rejected the selective-prosecution claim because Brantley did not identify similarly situated non-prosecuted individuals and did not show an impermissible prosecutorial motive.
- The court held the Fifth Amendment was not violated because the conviction rested on affirmative concealment, not mere failure to report.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find knowledge of Morris’s federal firearm-possession felony and affirmative steps to conceal it, including hiding the car and coordinating by texts.

## Legal Principles

- Misprision of a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 4 requires: (1) knowledge of the actual commission of a federal felony, (2) failure to notify authorities as soon as possible, and (3) an affirmative act of concealment.
- A misprision prosecution does not violate the Fifth Amendment when based on affirmative concealment rather than mere silence.
- Selective-prosecution claims require proof that similarly situated persons were not prosecuted and that the decision to prosecute was based on a constitutionally impermissible discriminatory purpose.
- On sufficiency review, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the government, asking whether a rational jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit upheld Brantley’s misprision conviction because the record supported that she knew of Morris’s federal felon-in-possession offense and affirmatively concealed it by hiding the car and coordinating with him, and she failed to establish selective prosecution or a Fifth Amendment violation.


United States v. Brantley, 803 F.3d 1265 (11th Cir. 2015)