J.T. Burnette lawyer makes case in federal appeals court docket in Jacksonville
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The alleged conduct of an undercover FBI agent within the public corruption investigation of John “J.T.” Burnette and his co-defendants — and a choice by a decide to maintain some particulars out of proof — turned a key level of competition throughout oral arguments within the rich businessman’s enchantment.
The struggle over the proof has been beneath seal for years, although it burst into public view Wednesday when a three-judge panel with the eleventh Circuit Court docket of Enchantment convened to listen to arguments within the high-profile case.
Amy Mason Saharia, a distinguished Washington lawyer representing Burnette, requested the judges to vacate Burnette’s conviction, which got here final summer time after a prolonged trial. Connor Winn, a legal appeals lawyer for the Division of Justice, requested that the judgment be affirmed.
Saharia argued that U.S. District Choose Robert Hinkle mistakenly instructed the jury on what constitutes bribery and improperly allowed one of many undercover FBI brokers, “Mike Candy,” to testify about Burnette’s lack of truthfulness throughout secretly recorded conversations.
Burnette case appealed:Federal appeals court docket will hear oral arguments in J.T. Burnette bribery case
She additionally complained that jurors weren’t allowed to listen to testimony concerning the conduct of Candy himself throughout a December 2016 journey to Las Vegas, the place Burnette and a co-defendant, former Metropolis Commissioner and Mayor Scott Maddox, have been wined and dined by brokers.
The journey included an outing to the Hustler Membership, the place Candy paid for a lap dance for Maddox with an grownup entertainer. And whereas jurors discovered concerning the lap dance at trial, they weren’t instructed concerning the protection’s assertion that Candy dedicated a criminal offense when he “paid for prostitution” and didn’t disclose it, at the least initially, to the federal government.
“The district court docket abused its discretion in allowing … the federal government’s star witness to take a position that my shopper’s exculpatory assertion’s vital to his protection are false,” Saharia instructed the judges. “And … the court docket abused its discretion in excluding proof that brokers paid for prostitution as a part of the investigation after which lied to cowl it up.”
Winn stated there was no reversible error in excluding the proof, arguing that it might have been “a complete prejudicial sideshow” with “salacious testimony that was disputed.” He referenced feedback on audio from the outing that “perhaps meant one factor and perhaps meant one other.”
“I feel the court docket may have allowed the proof,” Winn stated. “I feel that might have been effective. However I don’t suppose there was something fallacious with holding it out.”
The enchantment was heard by eleventh Circuit Judges Adalberto Jordan, Robin S. Rosenbaum and Kevin C. Newsom. It may take weeks or longer earlier than they subject an opinion.
What occurred in Vegas? Picture emerges of Scott Maddox with undercover FBI brokers
The continuing was initially scheduled to be held in particular person on the federal courthouse in Jacksonville however carried out by way of Zoom due to Hurricane Ian, which was nearing landfall in southwest Florida. Jordan famous the catastrophe, saying everybody in Ian’s path have been “in our hearts and in our prayers.”
Appeals decide tells Burnette lawyer she has robust burden to fulfill
Rosenbaum instructed Saharia she had a “very laborious burden” to indicate that Choose Hinkle abused his discretion in holding among the proof out about Agent Candy, who since retired.
“I feel that the court docket may have allowed it in,” Rosenbaum stated. “However how do you get to the purpose the place it was an abuse of discretion?”
“I do suppose once you have a look at the extent of scrutiny that the court docket gave this subject, it does come up to an abuse of discretion,” Saharia stated, including that “the federal government shouldn’t be participating in this type of conduct.”
J.T. Burnette Trial Day 7:FBI agent ‘Sweets’ reveals what occurred in Las Vegas with Scott Maddox
Burnette, a once-prominent developer, hotelier and political donor, was convicted final 12 months for his function in a pay-to-play scheme involving Maddox and his longtime aide Paige Carter-Smith. He’s serving a three-year sentence at a federal jail camp in Montgomery, Alabama.
In January, his authorized staff, together with legal professionals from the powerhouse Williams & Connolly agency and Tim Jansen of Tallahassee, filed their transient with the eleventh Circuit asking to vacate his conviction and remand the case again to district court docket for a brand new trial or judgment of acquittal. Authorities legal professionals in March requested the appeals court docket to affirm the judgment.
Burnette, whose many native initiatives included the downtown Gateway Constructing, the Resort Duval and the DoubleTree Resort, was discovered responsible of bribes he organized for Maddox and Carter-Smith by way of their lobbying agency, Governance.
He additionally organized a circuitous $100,000 cost to Maddox for his assist in killing a rival lodge mission and requested undercover FBI brokers posing as builders to ship $10,000 checks to Governance for Maddox’s assist with initiatives involving Fallschase and Myer’s Park.
Burnette was discovered responsible on extortion and associated fees however acquitted on a number of different counts, together with racketeering, which was partly rooted within the lodge scheme. Hinkle addressed that in December, when he ordered Burnette to stay behind bars throughout his enchantment. He stated the proof “conclusively established the bribe” however wasn’t robust sufficient on different parts to show a racketeering conspiracy.
“Mr. Burnette asserted Mr. Maddox strong-armed him into paying the $100,000 — that on this transaction, Mr. Burnette was a sufferer,” Hinkle wrote. “However the one that pays a bribe shouldn’t be a sufferer; he’s a felon.”
Maddox is serving a five-year sentence at a federal jail camp in Pensacola. Carter-Smith, who was sentenced to 2 years, is on residence confinement after serving time at a federal jail camp in Marianna. The appeals court docket earlier dominated in opposition to letting Burnette out of jail pending his enchantment.
Burnette, authorities legal professionals argue over what was and wasn’t stated in recorded conversations
Saharia argued that there have been a number of errors involving jury directions, together with that they didn’t say that Maddox wanted to take motion on a particular “recognized matter.”
“Our place is that there’s both no proof or at a minimal the proof was in battle as as to whether Maddox agreed to take motion on these issues,” she stated. “There may be substantial proof that what the brokers thought they have been paying Maddox for was for basic goodwill to do one thing for them sooner or later sooner or later.”
‘Critically flawed’:Legal professionals for J.T. Burnette ask eleventh Circuit to overturn conviction on corruption fees
Winn stated Maddox didn’t make specific statements that “sure, I’ll do these items,” partially as a result of he was suspicious of the undercover FBI brokers. He stated it might be “frankly considerably foolish” to anticipate such statements from Maddox.
“Public officers don’t are inclined to explicitly state that they’ll interact in acts of corruption,” Winn stated. “They usually act in innuendo.”
Winn famous that Maddox pleaded responsible to bribery fees within the case, a truth understood by jurors. He additionally stated the proof of bribery was “fairly robust,” together with statements by Burnette to the brokers to maintain paying Maddox after they began slicing him checks.
The Burnette case grew out of the FBI’s “Operation Capital Foreign money,” investigation, which started in 2015 with the arrival of an spy referred to as “Mike Miller,” who posed as an investor with Southern Pines Growth, a bureau entrance.
The identical corruption probe led to federal fees in June in opposition to one other former Tallahassee mayor, Andrew Gillum, and his longtime advisor Sharon Lettman-Hicks. Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, and Lettman-Hicks pleaded not responsible to fees they illegally funneled marketing campaign proceeds to themselves.
Contact Jeff Burlew at [email protected] or observe @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
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