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'Timing is everything': Corrine Brown's trial attorney says politics, religion played a role in overturned conviction

The conservative political makeup of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals "certainly benefitted her," says Corrine Brown's former trial attorney.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A day after former Congresswoman Corrine Brown’s conviction on 18 corruption charges was overturned on appeal, her original trial attorney reflected on her astonishing reversal of fortune.

"It's quite interesting that one of the more liberal members of Congress would end up having allies on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, who are incredibly conservative," said James Smith, the Orlando criminal defense attorney who represented Brown at her federal corruption trial. 

Brown was convicted in May 2017 on 18 counts of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to plunder some $300,000 from a fake charity for personal use. 

That conviction was erased late Thursday when the appeals court found U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan erred when he removed a juror who said the “Holy Spirit” told him before the trial that Brown was not guilty.  

"I can't think of a decision that I've ever seen that has generated more controversy than removing Juror #13," Smith said. "Juror 13 said that God had told him beforehand that she was not guilty. And then he said, 'everything that I've seen during the trial has just reaffirmed that.' He never said that he had a fixed opinion, which wasn't going to change."

The judge’s decision to remove Juror 13 formed the core of Brown’s appeal. She was joined by several Christian rights groups that filed friend of the court briefs arguing it threatened to unfairly exclude religious individuals from juries.

Smith welcomed the appellate ruling but noted it stemmed from a unique intersection of religion and politics. 

"If you had to divide up the appellate courts into two categories, what we call 'liberal' courts of appeal and 'conservative' courts of appeal," Smith observed, "not only would the 11th Circuit be in that latter category, it would probably be at the top of the list."

The 7- 4 decision to overturn her conviction broke along political lines, the four dissenting opinions from judges appointed by either Clinton or Obama.

"Timing is everything in life," Smith continued. "The fact that her appeal ended up being heard when you had a number of, not just President Trump appointees in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, but also some long-standing conservatives who've been there for quite some time. That certainly benefited her."

It’s up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office whether prosecutors will seek to retry the 74-year-old, or just let the case go.

But Smith says whatever prosecutors do, he does not expect this to be the last chapter of Brown's story.

"She's gonna be back," he said. "She'll be back. That's my prediction. She will definitely be a member of Congress."

    

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