Judge kicks attorney off Macon murder case

A Bibb County judge has deemed a Macon attorney’s representation of a murder suspect “ineffective” and has issued an order appointing a public defender to replace her.

Judge Howard Simms issued a notice Wednesday substituting lawyer Veronica Brinson, the attorney for 74-year-old Frank Reeves, with a public defender.

The notice follows a Tuesday order appointing a public defender.

Reeves is accused of fatally shooting Linda Hunnicutt at an east Macon gas station in 2012. Jury selection in his trial was set to begin Tuesday, but the case was postponed until November.

In the Wednesday notice, Simms wrote that Brinson’s “failure to adequately prepare, to adequately investigate and to adequately understand the basic rules” that go along with representing a person in a case like Reeves’ “seriously jeopardized” Reeves’ right to a fair trial and right to argue a viable defense.

Brinson maintained Wednesday that Simms’ order is illegal and that she still represents Reeves. She said she plans to challenge Simms removing her from the case.

Reeves’ son, Frank Dixon, holds a power of attorney for his father. Court records show both have signed statements that they want Brinson to stay on the case.

Dixon also has written a letter terminating a public defender’s services, Brinson said.

“I think the defendant has the right to choose his counsel,” she said.

She characterized the judge’s order as “illegal,” “premature” and “overreaching.”

“Mr. Reeves has indicated that he is satisfied with my services. I am still his attorney of choice,” Brinson said. “To outright ignore the wishes of the family ... it’s outright disrespectful.”

Brinson said she thinks the judge’s actions may be in response to her motion seeking to have Simms disqualified from presiding over Reeves’ case due to concerns he may be biased.

Chief Judge Tripp Self ruled earlier this month that Simms can stay on the case.

In her experience of practicing law for 15 years, Brinson said Simms’ order and notice are “unprecedented and very personal.”

“I think this is a bad precedent,” Brinson said. “I’m a business owner. I can’t have judges removing me from cases.”

Cheryl Karounos, spokeswoman for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, said it’s fairly unusual for a judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit to appoint a public defender to a case. The Macon circuit is comprised of Bibb, Crawford and Peach counties.

The causes for an appointment vary and are dependent on the circumstances of a particular case and a judge’s discretion, she said.

Karounos said she couldn’t speak to whether there’s ever been a case in which a paid attorney has been replaced by a judge with a public defender.

Simms, in his Wednesday court filing, wrote, “While the right to select and be represented by one’s preferred attorney is comprehended by the Sixth Amendment, the essential aim of the amendment is to guarantee an effective advocate.”

‘THIS IS PERSONAL’

In his notice of substitution, Simms cited that Brinson failed to file required timely notices into the court record. For example, rules require that a notice be filed at least 10 days before trial if a lawyer seeks to use an insanity or mental illness defense.

Following a Sept. 8 hearing, Brinson filed handwritten notices she would argue insanity and self-defense after being told they were already “untimely,” according to Simms’ notice.

Brinson said Wednesday that prosecutors have known for quite some time that she may argue self-defense or that the shooting was accidental.

“Mr. Reeves never intended to harm Linda Hunnicutt,” she said.

On Sept. 11 -- less than a week before jury selection was set to begin -- Brinson had difficulty gaining access to the sheriff’s office crime lab “attempting, as far as this court can discern, to see the state’s physical evidence against her client for the very first time,” Simms wrote.

“It is inarguable that her failure to perform the minimum acceptable duties of an attorney handling this type of case would have, of necessity, significantly prejudiced her client’s right to a fair trial,” he wrote.

Simms held a hearing in his office Monday in which he offered Brinson the opportunity to stay on the case if another attorney was appointed to lead the defense. She also was given the opportunity to choose who to work with, according to the order.

No other lawyer filed papers joining the defense team as of Wednesday, and Simms ruled Brinson, through “inaction” declined the opportunity to help a public defender when one is appointed.

Simms’ notice goes on to allege that Brinson has a history of trying to intimidate and harass judges and lawyers by filing “false and malicious complaints, frivolous motions and groundless requests.”

The judge cited examples including:

Brinson filed a petition in 2011 for a protective order against another attorney and was ordered to pay the other lawyer’s attorney fees after a judge found the lawsuit was filed to harass the other lawyer.

Also in 2011, Brinson requested that Bibb County’s chief juvenile judge submit to a psychological exam, saying she’d worked with the mentally ill and felt the judge was suffering from mental illness or disturbance. Brinson also sent a request to the chief Superior Court judge asking that all juvenile court judges submit to psychological exams.

In August 2014, Brinson filed motions to disqualify the prosecutor in two cases.

In response to the judge’s allegations, Brinson said, “It shows this is personal. It’s an attempt to make me look bad.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Judge kicks attorney off Macon murder case ."