Now That’s Entertainment

Life’s kind of a drag for Brandy Briggs, the 24-year-old East Harris County woman who was released from prison last year after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned her injury-to-a-child conviction for the death of her infant son.

According to this long feature in the Houston Chronicle, Briggs, who spent almost five years in prison, pretty much has her life on hold while waiting to hear whether the Harris County district attorney will bring charges again.

In the meantime, though, she's had the “temporary diversion” of efforts by her attorney, Charles Portz, to sell her story to Hollywood. The newspaper relates that

Briggs couldn't imagine sitting in a darkened theater while Drew Barrymore or Natalie Portman portrayed her personal tragedy. "I'd see it at home," she said as Kerri Grounds, the promotion director of Portz's entertainment division, talked about a theatrical release versus a made-for-television film.

But the movie talk was only a distraction. No deal has been signed, and besides, real life proved far more unsettling than anything on the
screen.

Diversion, distraction, whatever: If Briggs’ life is anywhere near as dreary as the Chronicle suggests, we too would have a hard time imagining Natalie Portman in the lead role.

We have even more difficulty accepting the notion that Portz (described in the story as "fiesty") has his own “entertainment division” with its own “promotions director.”

Who says the era of the Gentleman Lawyer is dead?