Action News Jax Exclusive: Corrine Brown's attorney lays out defense strategy for trial

In an exclusive interview with Action News Jax, former Rep. Corrine Brown’s attorney laid out his defense strategy for the trial.

Jury selection starts Monday.

Brown faces a 22-count federal indictment.

The government claims the former congresswoman used a fake charity, One Door for Education, as a personal slush fund.

For months, Brown and her former chief of staff Ronnie Simmons walked through the federal courthouse doors side-by-side, planning to fight the federal charges together.

But in February, Simmons pleaded guilty.

“It’s like I’ve lost a son,” Brown said before her final status hearing April 4.

Next week, her attorney will argue it was Simmons who stole the money and left the congresswoman in the dark.

“He was able to take advantage of the trust that the congresswoman had in him,” said Brown’s attorney, James Smith. “Ronnie Simmons has admitted that he took money out of One Door for Education. The evidence in the trial will show that he was giving money out to a number of individuals. Those individuals had no reason to know that the money they were receiving came from One Door for Education.”

Prosecutors filed a 49-page exhibit list Friday, mostly financial records showing a pattern of money coming out of One Door for Education and going into personal accounts of Brown, Simmons, charity president Carla Wiley, and Brown’s daughter Shantrel Brown.

“However, one of the things you’ll find out when trial starts is that Ronnie Simmons had access to both of Corrine Brown’s accounts,” Simmons said.

Smith said Brown plans to spend the weekend going to church, spending time with family and friends, and picking out the outfit she will wear to court Monday.

Cox Media Group