Appeals court: Ex-US Rep Brown should get new trial

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a once powerful Florida Democrat. She served just over two years of a five-year sentence for fraud and other crimes related to a purported charity for poor students that prosecutors said she used as a personal slush fund. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday the judge in Brown’s case violated her Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous jury verdict. It voted 7-4 to vacate Brown’s 2017 convictions and sentence. Brown represented a Florida district that included Jacksonville during her nearly 25-year career.