The jury in the Jacksonville federal corruption trial of ex-Florida U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown must start deliberations all over again after one juror was dismissed under strange circumstances.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan excused the juror after complaints from another juror about weird behavior which included talking about Brown and about “higher beings.”
The judge put an alternate in the place of the dismissed juror, but since that alternate has not been in deliberations that have been going on for two days, the jury must start the process all over again.
Jurors in the Brown case are considering 22 total charges against her.
Those charges include that Brown plundered for personal use a charity she set up to help underprivileged kids with scholarships.
The charity raised more than $800 thousand but only handed out $12 hundred in scholarships.
Prosecutors say much of the rest went to a lavish lifestyle for her, her chief of staff Ronnie Simmons, and the head of the charity.
Brown claims she didn’t know money deposited into her personal account by Simmons came from the charity fund.
Brown is also accused of falsifying her taxes by claims deductions for charitable giving she never did.
Simmons and the head of the charity have already pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for their testimony against Brown.
