(FORTUNE Magazine) – Odd as it sounds, Richard Scrushy appears to be playing the race card.

Attempting to fight an 85-count fraud indictment, the former HealthSouth CEO has put several African-American attorneys at the center of his legal team, including Richard Deane, a former U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, and Donald Watkins, a Birmingham political heavyweight. Scrushy's website (richardmscrushy.com) makes him out to be a virtual Freedom Rider, noting that his hometown of Selma, Ala., is the "birthplace of the civil-rights movement [and he] is now fighting for his own rights and freedom in the face of false allegations."

Finally, Scrushy, who has been a regular churchgoer his entire life, recently joined the Guiding Light, a predominantly black church in Birmingham. According to pastor Jim Lowe, Scrushy and wife Leslie watched Guiding Light's TV services for months and were drawn to its focus on a "personal relationship with God." Pastor Lowe prayed with Scrushy pre- and post-arraignment and sat with Leslie during it. Says Lowe: "He's been born again."

Some nonbelievers think Scrushy has found salvation at a rather opportune moment, as he may face a mostly African-American jury in Birmingham. But Watkins vehemently denies any racial strategy, saying, "I find it offensive that anyone would even make black attorneys an issue."

At the very least, Scrushy wasn't always so committed to diversity. HealthSouth never had an African American in a position of vice president or higher at the corporate headquarters in his 20 years as CEO, a fact that a current company spokesman confirms. And a former consultant to HealthSouth, Ralph Stringer, is suing the company for breach of contract, among other things. Stringer, who is black, says the company stopped doing business with him after he brought a white date to a party on Scrushy's yacht. Scrushy told aides this "disrespected him," according to the lawsuit. Watkins scoffs at the allegation. "He has long-standing and meaningful relationships [with blacks], some personal and some professional," he says. --John Helyar