Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Defense attorney Jeffrey Oppleman (left) says he plans to ask for Michael Morva's trial to be held outside of Montgomery County.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Michael Morva's attorney said Wednesday he plans to ask that his client's trial on a charge of helping his brother, William Morva, escape from police custody be moved out of Montgomery County.

Michael Morva was scheduled to be tried by Circuit Court Judge Ray Grubbs on the conspiracy charge and a charge of possessing marijuana Wednesday. But when Grubbs asked defense attorney Jeffrey Oppleman if he was ready to proceed, Oppleman said he was not.

"My client has informed me several times this morning that he wishes to have a jury trial," Oppleman said.

"I think the reason Michael wants a jury trial is because he is innocent," his mother, Elizabeth Morva, said after Wednesday's brief hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court. She said she doesn't believe Michael Morva would take the case so far if he was guilty.

"I believe he is innocent," she said. "He was falsely arrested and he was falsely accused."

Grubbs agreed to grant Michael Morva a jury trial and set a September date for a motions hearing on the change of venue issue.

Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch said the trial could be held in the fall and would likely take two or three days, but Finch said he didn't want to speculate on whether he thought it would be moved out of the county.

Oppleman also told the court a question had been raised about whether William Morva's defense attorneys would let him testify, as planned, by videoconferencing for his brother's defense. William Morva is being held in Sussex 1 State Prison in Waverly, where death row inmates are housed.

William Morva, 27, has been convicted of killing two people after his escape early the morning of Aug. 20, 2006, and sentenced to the death penalty. Michael Morva, 29, is accused of conspiring with his brother to escape sometime between Jan. 4, 2006, when both were held in the Montgomery County Jail, and the day of the escape.

Oppleman said after Wednesday's hearing that he doesn't think Michael Morva could get a fair trial in Montgomery County.

"The name Morva is not going to be any term of endearment to anyone here," he said. "Michael Morva didn't kill anyone."

William Morva's trial on capital murder charges was moved out of Montgomery County after Grubbs found that too many people in the jury pool had ties to the case or the people involved. The trial was moved to Washington County Circuit Court in Abingdon, where hardly anyone in the jury pool was familiar with the case.

Oppleman said he didn't think Michael Morva's request for a jury trial was to delay his case.

"He's already serving time," he said.

Michael Morva is serving eight years in prison on convictions related to attempted thefts. He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted of conspiring to help a prisoner escape and up to 30 days in jail if convicted of possessing marijuana.

Michael Morva had been found incompetent to stand trial and was moved to Central State Hospital, a mental facility in Petersburg, for treatment. Psychologists who evaluated him there found that he was malingering, or feigning mental illness for personal gain, Finch said Wednesday.

When Finch told the court that he wanted to address the issue of competency, Michael Morva burst out laughing.

Psychologists may have found that Michael Morva was faking symptoms, Oppleman said, "but I think there's some serious deficiencies Mr. Morva has as well."