Sen. Cooper requests delay in federal trial
Cooper?s attorney, Jerry Summers of Chattanooga, electronically filed the request to delay the McMinnville Democrat?s trial hours before a previously scheduled Thursday pretrial hearing.
At the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Bill Carter agreed to allow prosecutors until today to file a response to the request, and said U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier would make the ruling.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble declined to say if he would object to the delay. Humble and Summers agreed the trial, whenever held, would not take more than six days.
The delay request included a letter from a Nashville doctor who treated Cooper after the Feb. 7 wreck. Dr. Richard S. Miller?s letter said Cooper suffered a ?cerebral concussion, multiple rib fractures, and chest wall contusions and an extensive degloving injury of the left forearm and hand.? According to medical references, a degloving injury peels back the skin to reveal muscle, tissue and bone.
Miller?s letter said Cooper returned to his clinic Tuesday and was ?still somewhat confused and requires around the clock on narcotics for pain relief.? The doctor said fractured ribs would take a ?minimum of 8 to 12 weeks to heal and his cerebral concussion can take several weeks to return to a normal function level.?
The delay request included photos of Cooper?s injuries and his wrecked vehicle.
When contacted yesterday, Cooper?s legislative assistant Christina Barber said the state senator was on the mend and that he would return to the General Assembly when his doctor released him to come back to work.
Cooper was injured when his SUV flipped four or five times during a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 24 after he attended three legislative receptions. He was hospitalized about two days at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is recuperating at home. He has not spoken to reporters since the accident.
The results of blood-alcohol tests on the state lawmaker haven?t been released by investigators. No charges have been filed yet.
As for his federal trial, Cooper has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud.
Before the wreck, Collier denied Cooper?s request to delay his trial until after the Legislature?s annual session ends. The judge granted a delay last year when the trial was set for November.