Macon attorney released after a weekend behind bars
Macon attorney Veronica Brinson was released from the Bibb County jail Monday after a Georgia Superior Court judge ordered her arrest for failing to comply with a court order in a civil case.
Brinson turned herself in at the sheriff’s office Friday after Judge Bemon McBride, of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, signed an order for her arrest Thursday.
Brinson was freed about 11:15 a.m. Monday after it was learned that she had filed a motion Thursday asking McBride to voluntarily recuse himself from the case.
The motion said Brinson “has the utmost respect for this court, and the motion is brought to eliminate harm” in this case and a separate case involving the adoption of a child, “based on a conflict of interest or bias created either inadvertently or otherwise.”
Later Monday, the judge denied Brinson’s motion because it was not filed in a timely manner and did not provide any examples of how the court has expressed biased or prejudice against her or anyone in a similar situation, according to the filing.
Brinson’s arrest stems from a 2011 civil lawsuit in which she accused Andrew Foster, another lawyer, of harassment. In December 2012, McBride ruled that Brinson’s claims in the lawsuit were “unfounded in fact, scurrilous and unsupported,” and he ordered her to pay Foster’s $9,500 in court costs.
Foster’s lawyers wanted documents and testimony from Brinson about her property, banking records and other assets to help him recover court costs.
In February 2016, the judge ordered Brinson to produce documents within a 10-day time frame. Months later, in May 2016, Brinson still had not complied, so the judge found her in contempt and ordered her arrest.
Brinson was freed on a $20,000 bond and filed an appeal, which was denied last week by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
After being released from a weekend behind bars, Brinson said she is “ready to continue to serve my clients and my community.”
Former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis said she asked him to be her spokesman.
“I think that she has been singled out,” Ellis said. “I think she was maliciously prosecuted and persecuted. I don’t think it was any reason to arrest her. This was a very minor charge in the scheme of things. “
Ellis said Brinson was a teen mother, “and that didn’t stop her. She graduated from Mercer with honors . She went on to Mercer law school ... and they treated her like she was a common criminal because of a lawyer wanting to get more from her.”
Brinson declined to answer questions about the case.
Reached by phone, attorney Sam Alderman, who represents Foster, said, “We certainly respect all orders of the court, and we look forward to all parties complying with all orders of this court.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 1:50 PM.