Lawyer removed from Macon murder case may be cited for contempt
About a week after an attorney was removed from a Macon murder case, another judge has put her on notice that she’ll be held in contempt of court.
Until last week, Veronica Brinson represented Frank Reeves, a 74-year-old man confined to a wheelchair who is charged with fatally shooting a woman outside a Gray Highway gas station in 2012.
In a Sept. 17 order, Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Simms deemed Brinson’s representation of Reeves “ineffective” and replaced her with a public defender. Simms also prohibited Brinson from filing any additional documents in the case.
Since then, Brinson has submitted multiple documents, including two of them Wednesday afternoon.
In a Sept. 19 filing, Brinson requested permission to file a pretrial appeal of Chief Judge Tripp Self’s decision not to disqualify Simms from presiding in Reeves’ case. Brinson has contended that Simms should be removed because of an alleged bias. Permission is required before filing a pretrial appeal with a higher court.
Court documents show Brinson had previously sent Self an email Sept. 16 requesting permission for an appeal. In the email, Brinson wrote that she planned to file the appeal the next day.
Self issued an order denying her request Sept. 17. Brinson then sent Self a letter explaining that the email wasn’t an official request.
Self filed another order Wednesday, denying Brinson’s motion.
At the end of the order, Self put Brinson on notice that he plans to cite her for criminal contempt -- an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 20 days in the county jail and a $1,000 fine for each count.
Self wrote that Simms’ order included a warning that “any attempt by any person or party to interfere with appointed counsel’s representation in this matter will be considered an act of contempt and will be dealt with accordingly.”
Self went on to write that Brinson “ignored the court’s clear and simple order to not file any document with the clerk, and given that she has apparently defied the court to take action against her, along with apparently making several false statements in various filings in the case, the court has absolutely no choice” but to issue the citation.
“Should the court fail to do so, it would be complicit in allowing one to make a mockery of its orders and process,” he wrote.
Brinson will have a chance to explain why she shouldn’t be cited. A hearing date hasn’t been set.
Reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, Brinson said she hadn’t read Self’s order.
“I know justice will prevail,” she said. “My desire is to have access to the appellate courts. I will not get justice in Bibb County Superior Court. The leadership will back Judge Howard Simms. That’s the way business is done here.”
Brinson reserved further comment until after she’d read the order.
She filed another request Wednesday for a certificate of immediate review and a notice of appeal to the state Supreme Court pertaining to her removal from Reeves’ case.
In her motions, Brinson questioned whether Simms had the authority to remove her from Reeves’ case. She also wants a judge to determine whether Reeves’ right to an attorney was violated and if her due process rights and those of Reeves were violated.
Macon Bar Association President William Noland said it’s “very rare” for local judges to find an attorney in contempt.
In his 14 years practicing law in the Macon Judicial Circuit, he said he couldn’t think of a case.
In general, he said his impression is that most local attorneys are “professional and respectful of the court and its orders” and that the judges are “respectful of the attorneys practicing before them and the role of an attorney as an officer of the court.
“I believe our judges would be hesitant to find an attorney in contempt and would do so only in extreme circumstances,” Noland said.
To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.
This story was originally published September 24, 2014 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Lawyer removed from Macon murder case may be cited for contempt ."