Jim Brown, did justice prevail?

   Jim Brown, the former Commissioner of Insurance was acquitted by a jury of the charges against him brought by the U. S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans. However he was convicted of lying to an FBI agent. That’s kind of an odd situation even for the federal judicial system in Louisiana.
   Mr. Brown was elected to the Insurance Commissioner’s post by a large margin even after he was indicted by the federal government several months before his trial began. The people apparently didn’t believe he was guilty as charged and elected him despite the government’s attempt to discredit him by waiting to file the grand jury’s indictment just a few months before the election: a move many believe has happened in other cases too in an effort to influence elections in the state.
   I ran across Jim Brown’s website at (http://www.jimbrownla.com/columns/index.htm) the other day and read “Jim’s Column.” I thought it might be interesting so I am quoting parts of it.
   Brown writes: “Have you been following any of the Tyco International trial in New York? It seems that a week does not go by when there is a major trial, involving high profile defendants where judicial decisions made are directly opposite of what takes place here in Louisiana.”
   “Last week, the jurors in the Tyco case asked to hear testimony given at the trial by the two defendants, Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swarts. In addition, the jury asked for other testimony to be make available to them so that they could weigh all of the evidence in a fair and balanced way. And the Judge, rightfully, made the information available to the jury. But not so in Louisiana.”
   “When I was tried in the Western District of Louisiana, the jury in my case sent a note to the judge saying they would like to have a copy of my testimony. The judge’s response was that my “testimony on the stand is not available.” It had not been transcribed, and could not be given to the jury. The jurors could have been excused for the evening and the court reporter could have transcribed what I said overnight and had it ready to give to the jury the next day,”
   “Even more disturbing is the fact that the actual transcript of my testimony was available on the court reporter’s computer, which is referred to as Realtime Production.” All the court reporter had to do was print out her transcription, and my testimony would be available to the jury.”
   “Again, the rules are different if you live in Louisiana.”
   “As of the time that this column is being posted, the jurors in the Tyco case seem to have reached an impasse because one of the jurors is staunchly holding out for acquittal. If the judge in New York merely followed the example in Louisiana, the solution would be simple. Just kick off the jury the one juror who believes the defendants are innocent. That takes care of that problem. If you recall, that’s exactly what happened in the Edwards case.”
   “I wrote recently about the differences between the Martha Stewart trial and what happened to me in Louisiana, and now we have the Tyco case. It should be obvious to any neutral observer that there are two systems of justice. One for the rest of the country. And one for Louisiana. It’s a shame we are not one of the other forty-nine. Some of us paid quite a price.”
   Jim Brown’s Column also contains interesting information on state and federal elections from time to time and can be accessed at (http://www.jimbrownla.com/columns/index.htm)

   As an aside, you might recall that Brown was convicted of lying to an FBI agent. There were no witnesses and no tape recording of the conversation. The only evidence was the FBI agent’s written notes that he made three days later. It was his word against the agent’s. The judge refused to order the FBI to produce the written notes for Brown’s defense lawyers so there was no way they could fully defend him.
   Had Brown simply refused to talk to the FBI agent, he would have not been convicted nor would he have served six months in prison. He would not have been forced to resign from his elected position as Insurance Commissioner and his reputation would not have been sullied or his life ruined by the word of one FBI agent.
   Another side bar: Tom Feran, a columnist who writes for the Plain Dealer of Cleveland wrote; “She (Martha Steward) was convicted of lying to the government, under a law that prohibits lying to any federal agent, even by someone who is not under oath, and even by a person who is has committed no other crime. Even if it turns out no other crime was committed.”
   “But Steward’s conviction does raise the question of why turnabout shouldn’t be fair play. Why shouldn’t it be illegal for the government to lie to you?”
   If every federal employee, who is on the public dole, would be put in prison for lying, there would not be enough prisons to hold two percent of them.
  It’s too late to correct the injustice rendered to Jim Brown but it seems to me the state officials and the lawyer’s bar association could help a little by immediately pardoning him in matters related to the state and reinstate his license to practice law. “Justice delayed is justice denied!”
  Moreover, Congress ought to immediately knock down the current law or, in the alternative, make it apply as well to all federal employees of any stripe.
  In Jim Brown’s case, justice did not prevail and the system failed him completely.


   Milo A. Nickel is the former President and COO of Louisiana State Newspapers.

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