God Works In Mysterious Ways

Corrine Brown was once a powerful member of the House of Representatives from Florida, but gerrymandering and corruption charges brought her down in 2016. A year later she was found guilty on 18 felony counts related to the use of a phony charity as a personal slush fund, and sentenced five years in prison. A three judge panel of the 11th Circuit rejected her appeal based on the trial judge’s removal of a juror who said the “Holy Spirit” told him Brown was not guilty, but on May 5th the whole appeals court overturned her conviction on a 7-4 verdict. The majority ruled that the decision of a district judge to remove the juror after deliberations had already begun was wrong because there was no evidence he would have ultimately held out against a conviction, and removing him for listening to God’s guidance deprived her of her right to a unanimous jury. Judge Charles Wilson, in dissent, said the juror’s removal was “necessary to ensure that a verdict was rendered based on the law and evidence—a principle that is foundational to our system of justice.”