Macon lawyer faces possible 200-day sentence if found guilty of contempt

If found guilty of contempt at a hearing next month, a Macon attorney could be sentenced to pay a maximum $10,000 fine and serve up to 200 days in jail.

Bibb County Superior Court Judge Tripp Self filed a contempt citation Friday accusing lawyer Veronica Brinson of 10 counts of criminal contempt.

Up until a court order issued Sept. 17, Brinson was the lawyer for Frank Reeves, a 74-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a woman outside a Gray Highway gas station in 2012.

Judge Howard Simms deemed Brinson’s representation “ineffective” and appointed a public defender to represent Reeves. In his order, Simms instructed Brinson not to interfere with the public defender’s representation or file any documents in Reeves’ case.

According to the 13-page citation, Brinson faces a separate count of contempt for each of the following alleged actions:

Failing to get permission from the court or Reeves’ new attorney before filing a letter Sept. 19 about a pre-trial appeal;

Failing to get permission from the court or Reeves’ new attorney before filing a motion in the case Sept. 19;

Failing to get permission from the court or Reeves’ new attorney before filing a request for a certificate of immediate review Wednesday;

Failing to get permission from the court or Reeves’ new attorney before filing a notice of appeal motion Wednesday; and

Interfering with Reeves’ new lawyer’s representation by filing the four documents.

Additionally, Brinson faces five counts stemming from alleged false written or oral statements pertaining to a plea offer in the case and her intentions in sending an email about a request for a pre-trial appeal.

Self, in the citation, alleges Brinson has maintained she received a plea offer for Reeves to serve five years in prison followed by five years on probation in exchange for a plea to involuntary manslaughter. Documents attached to another court filing in Reeves’ case show prosecutors only offered that he get a 10-year prison sentence.

Contacted Friday, Brinson said, “I have practiced 11 years here as a zealous and humble advocate. I have asked humbly that my clients, family and I are treated fairly.”

She asked the public to support her.

“I think the public knows what this is and what is going on,” she said.

A hearing is set for Oct. 10.

Self wrote that all the judges in the Macon Judicial Circuit -- which is comprised of Bibb, Crawford and Peach counties -- will disqualify themselves from hearing the case.

Another judge will be assigned to the case.

By law, to be found not in contempt, Brinson must prove Simms’ order wasn’t “sufficiently definite and certain,” the order wasn’t violated or the violation wasn’t willful, according to the citation.

In separate orders also filed Friday, Self denied Brinson’s request for a pre-trial appeal of Simms’ removing her from Reeves’ case and dismissed her notice of filing an appeal to a higher court.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Macon lawyer faces possible 200-day sentence if found guilty of contempt ."