A federal judge has granted Rep. Tyrone Brooks additional legal help to fight his indictment on federal fraud charges.
U.S. Magistrate Alan Baverman said in an order Friday that the government must provide Brooks with an additional lawyer to supplement the pro bono work former Gov. Roy Barnes is already providing.
Brooks, an Atlanta Democrat, faces 30 charges of wire, tax and mail fraud and is accused of using contributions meant for a pair of charities for personal expenses. Barnes has said Brooks broke no laws but had poor accounting practices.
Barnes, one of the best-known lawyers in the state, argued that he has primarily handled civil cases and hasn’t argued a federal criminal case in decades. In his motion requesting help, Barnes argued that Brooks is entitled to federal assistance as he can’t afford to pay for a lawyer.
The U.S. Attorney’s office disagreed and argued Barnes is more than capable of defending Brooks.
But Baverman said Brooks’ financial affidavit showed the veteran lawmaker is living on his $17,000 annual legislative salary and has no other means to hire counsel. Baverman drew the line, however, at granting Barnes’ request for financial help in hiring experts to bolster Brooks’ defense.
Barnes, meanwhile, pushed back at the government’s contention that he might have a conflict of interest in representing Brooks. Prosecutors said in court filings that Barnes is listed as general counsel for the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, one of two charities Brooks is accused of defrauding.
Since GABEO is a purported victim in the case, the government said, Barnes could have a conflict of interest. But Barnes, in a response filed Monday, said he never did any work for GABEO and that the title was an “honorific” and had the government “done anything more thorough than make an assumption from looking at paper letterhead, the government might have learned the actual facts.”
Meanwhile, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Tuesday told reporters that Brooks’ legacy remains intact.
“As far as we know, the man has not broken any laws. He has not done anything to lose the reputation he has with the Civil Rights Movement,” SCLC president C.T.Vivian said.
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