A.G. Gancarski
On Tuesday, Rep. Corrine Brown and her chief of staff, Ronnie Simmons, had a status of counsel hearing regarding their One Door for Education case.
One of the two has counsel. And the other failed to appear initially, causing confusion among court officers and the faithful press, though his new lawyer filed a notice of appearance after 4:00 on Tuesday.
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The big news: Brown’s new attorney is almost assured of grandstanding in this case, seeking headlines and building his brand at the expense of what’s left of Brown’s reputation and political career.
Mark NeJame and David Haas are her new attorneys, both from Orlando, in what is the third change of counsel for Brown, who had retained Bill Sheppard and Betsy White at first, then had Greg Kehoe as her attorney at her last court appearance.
NeJame has a history in Florida political circles of recent vintage, and a history with a lot of high-profile cases — this being one of them.
NeJame was Alan Grayson‘s divorce attorney, notable for messaging against the domestic violence allegations against the “congressman with guts.”
“Lolita is a disturbed woman. She has made one false allegation after another. Her own daughter refutes her,” said NeJame, adding that “there never has been a witness or any proof whatsoever of her claims. The claims have been so ridiculous that not one time has there even been enough probable cause to bring a charge or an arrest against Alan Grayson.”
NeJame, who bills himself as Orlando’s Johnnie Cochran, lacks the pedigree of the attorneys preceding him, but makes up for it with a penchant for self-promotion.
While he refused to represent George Zimmerman, he did represent the parents of Casey Anthony, and Tiger Woods in their high-profile cases in recent years.
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Simmons, like Brown, was in limbo in terms of counsel.
Anthony Suarez, an attorney from Orlando with a history in GOP politics, is representing Simmons, but no notice of appearance was filed until after 4:00 p.m., an hour after the hearing.
That caused confusion.
“He should be in this courtroom at this time,” federal Judge James Klindt said.
“It’s possible that Simmons has been advised that a notice of appearance was filed,” said Klindt, who said that he was considering having a marshal serve Simmons, while trying to contact Suarez.
“It could be … a failure of communication … or that Suarez is having trouble filing his notice of appearance,” Klindt said.
The court was recessed as Klindt attempted to contact a U.S. Marshal, with a resumption at 4:30 p.m., at which point the notice of appearance had been filed.
Simmons believed the notice of appearance had been filed, which kicks off this defense nicely.
Aug. 24 at 11 a.m. will be the next status conference in this case.
