Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich is defending herself and her department after a story Tuesday in the New York Times.
The Times article questions Weirich’s actions regarding the high profile Noura Jackson case.
Jackson was convicted of stabbing her mother to death in their East Memphis home.
Her conviction was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Weirich told the Local I-team, she has not read the article because she is simply too busy.
But prosecutors and defense attorney’s we talked to have read it.
The New York Times article about the Shelby County District Attorney’s office was the buzz Tuesday at the courthouse.
It not only highlight’s what happened in the Jackson case, but other cases in Shelby County where there have been claims of prosecutorial misconduct.
“It seems to be the talk of the day, ” said Bill Massey, a lawyer.
“What you hope that this kind of press generates is that it’s always in the back of a prosecutor’s mind that the press is there looking over your shoulder, so you better do the right thing.,” said Blake Ballin, a lawyer.
Jackson was convicted in the 2005 stabbing death of her mother.
The case was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2014 due to prosecutorial misconduct.
The reasons the Supreme Court cited, A critical witness statement was not turned over to the defense, and an inappropriate comment was made by Weirich during closing arguments.
Jackson was released from prison last year after pleading guilty to a lesser charge but maintains her innocence.
Weirich says when it comes to the Time’s article, “It’s troubling that it doesn’t tell the whole story.” Weirich says her office handles more than 220 thousand cases a year.
From 1990 to February 2017, 147 Shelby County cases have been reversed. Weirich says, of those, 125 were overturned due to judicial errors.
Fourteen were made because of errors made by a defense attorney, and just eight were reversed because of errors made by the prosecutor’s office, according to Weirich.
“That is a minuscule amount when you look at the big picture, many more cases were sent back because of judicial errors, defense attorney errors and nobody calls that misconduct,” said Weirich, “This office doesn’t engage in misconduct. Do we make, have we made and will we continue to make mistakes, sure.”
In March, Weirich was privately reprimanded by the state board that oversees lawyers for the handling of the Jackson case.
Last month, a Harvard law school project ranked her the highest in Tennessee for prosecutorial misconduct. Weirich disputes those findings.
“What needs to be included in the story, is the truth. The facts. That there is not this sweeping misconduct, as everyone is quick to throw that word out, about this office,” said Weirich. “We are going to make mistakes, but a mistake is not misconduct,”
