Judge denies Corrine Brown's daughter's motion to be exempted from testifying

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The judge presiding over for former Rep. Corrine Brown’s federal fraud case denied her daughter’s motion to be exempted from having to testify in her mother’s case.

Jury selection for the trial starts Monday.

Brown faces 22 federal indictments related to the government’s claim that she used a fake charity, One Door for Education, as a personal slush fund.

The attorneys prosecuting Brown filed a motion on Friday morning saying “there is reason to believe” she will shift the blame to her daughter, Shantrel Brown, during the trial.

“I think that the prosecution is fishing. That sounds like what their theory of what the defense case is going to be,” said Shantrel Brown’s attorney, Sue-Ann Robinson.

Corrine Brown’s defense attorney, James Smith, denied it, saying he plans to pin the blame on her former chief of staff, Ronnie Simmons.

“She knows no information whatsoever that would give her any reason to believe that her daughter’s guilty,” Smith said.

The judge denied Robinson’s motion on Wednesday that her client should not have to testify.

That motion said Shantrel Brown will invoke her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid incriminating herself.

Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson said it’s unusual to invoke the Fifth Amendment for a whole testimony.

“You can’t forecast in advance what questions are going to be asked. So you can’t very well know whether the answer to that question could incriminate you,” Carson said.

A new exhibit list filed on Friday by the prosecution includes communication about donations to One Door for Education, documentation of withdrawals from the charity’s account and deposits into the personal bank accounts of Corrine Brown, Ronnie Simmons, Carla Wiley and Shantrel Brown.

Smith said Corrine Brown plans to spend the weekend going to church, spending time with family and friends and picking out her outfit for court on Monday.

Cox Media Group