Defense attorney withdraws from murder case

SANDPOINT - An attorney representing murder suspect Tyrah Brown is withdrawing from the case.

Linda Payne's withdrawal comes as an e-mail surfaced Monday in which she used a racial slur to explain why she was reluctant to draft an order concerning a follow-up polygraph examination of Brown.

Payne used a disparaging term for black people during a testy e-mail exchange with Serra Woods, Brown's lead defense counsel.

"I am not your or Tyrah's (expletive)," Payne wrote an Aug. 29 e-mail to Woods.

Payne told District Judge John Patrick Luster she joined the defense to handle a grand theft charge filed in connection with the murder case. Payne said the defense investigation is wrapped up and she no longer has the contract with Bonner County to provide conflict defense counsel.

Moreover, Brown is mulling over a plea agreement to resolve her case.

"This case appears to be in a position for settlement," Payne said.

Neither Woods nor Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson raised objections to Payne's departure. Brown, meanwhile, seemed to welcome it.

"She's actually been nothing but a source of contention for Ms. Woods and I," said Brown, who added that she believes Payne is under-qualified.

Brown provided Luster with a copy of the e-mail, which the state moved to become an exhibit at the hearing.

"There's just been a lot of really inappropriate things said on Ms. Payne's part," Brown said as Luster read the e-mail.

Luster ultimately granted Payne's withdrawal motion, but did not speak to the contents of the e-mail.

"I don't see how any withdrawal by Ms. Payne, at this stage, is going to prejudice either party here in terms of this case moving forward," Luster said.

Payne left the courtroom immediately after the court granted the motion, but before the hearing concluded and before the nature of the e-mail was revealed.

Payne declined to discuss the e-mail following Monday's hearing.

"What I have to say publicly, I said on the record in court," Payne said in an e-mail to the Daily Bee.

Brown, 26, and her husband, Keith, are charged with the shooting death of Leslie Carlton Breaw at Priest Lake in January 2007. They are also accused of taking a $56,000 escrow check belonging to Breaw, 48.

The couple denies the charges.

The Browns are identically charged, but are being tried separately. Keith Brown, also 48, has been committed to the Idaho Department of Correction due to questions concerning his fitness to proceed due to unspecified mental health problems, which has put his case on hold for the time being.

Tyrah Brown's trial is tentatively set for early next year.

"This case has languished on a long time and I know you've been in custody," Luster said. "It's about time to figure out one way or another what we're going to do with this matter, whether we need to go to trial or not."