Opinions

Stevens prosecutor's poor record

Tax fraud charges against Alan Brown took six weeks to try in 2004 and 2005, but jurors deliberated less than an hour to hand the prosecutor, Brenda Morris, a defeat.

Brown sued the government over the tax agents' conduct and after the trial won a $1.34 million settlement.

Morris, in the Washington, D.C., office, had been picked by the Justice Department to handle the case after it recused every prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio because of a potential conflict of interest.

Some observers believed Brown's prosecution was doomed from the start, partly because the government's star witness, a former staffer in Brown's office who fell in love with a drug-trafficking client, was deemed not credible.

Those familiar with the case said Morris pushed it forward regardless. Before the trial, two judges found IRS agents acted with reckless disregard for the truth when they used uncorroborated accusations to justify an all-night search of Brown's home and office.

She was promoted in August 2006 to principal deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section in Washington and was the lead prosecutor in the Stevens case.

"This is a prosecutor who needs to be removed, and I would hope the attorney general utilizes the same test of integrity as he did in the Stevens case," said U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, who ruled against Morris in Brown's case. "Though (the Brown case) is several years old, there is no statute of limitations on integrity."

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Brown's lawyers say Morris never reined in the agents and proceeded unfairly.

"I wasn't shocked about her behavior. I was shocked that anybody did anything about it," Brown said, referring to the Stevens case. "It restores my faith - a little bit - in the Justice Department. I felt there was enough in my case that they would have taken action, maybe some sanctions. It surprised me when I saw her on the (Stevens) case."

In fact, during Stevens' trial, his defense team contacted Brown and his lawyers after learning of Morris' earlier actions.

"It appears as though she's continuing a course of conduct of not following the rules, not reining in her agents and not operating fairly," said Bill Reid, a former federal prosecutor who handled Brown's lawsuit against the government.

- Express-News

Andrew Halcro

Andrew Halcro is a past executive director of the Anchorage Community Development Authority. He is a former state representative and past president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

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