Prosecutor Lila Statom will be transferred out of the courtroom of Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern and will oversee a new gun prosecution program, District Attorney Bill Cox announced Wednesday afternoon.
At the same time, Judge Stern has rescinded a 3-page order she put down on Tuesday suspending the right of Ms. Statom from practicing in her courtroom.
Mr. Cox said he could have appealed the matter, but decided to resolve it "administratively."
He said, "I feel I should better spent my time and resources fighting crime than issues of this type."
He said at a press conference, "It's important to remember these are all good guys. There are no villains here."
Mr. Cox said he has "the highest regard for Judge Stern and other members of our judiciary," and he defended Ms. Statom as "a zealous prosecutor."
He said being a prosecutor as well as a judge "can be stressful" and sometimes lead to personal clashes.
Mr. Cox said the move would not slow down cases that Ms. Statom is currently handling in Division II. He said those could be moved to other prosecutors. Or he said it is possible some of the Statom cases might be moved to one of the other divisions of Criminal Court if it is important she stay on the cases.
The new program she will oversee involves a federal grant that, along with a local match, provides funding to hire four new assistants who will concentrate on crimes involving guns. Mr. Cox said one prosecutor has been hired and another is "ver promising." He said two more are being considered.
Mr. Cox said, "I have full confidence in Ms. Statom just like I do in all my assisants. She is a career prosecutor who has never had a disciplinary action brought against her or a contempt action brought against her."
He said, "I've prosecuted cases alongside Ms. Statom, and I've prosecuted cases alongside Judge Stern (who formerly was in the DA's office)."
Judge Stern said in her order that her decision "follows a long history of unprofessional conduct on the part of Ms. Statom in the courtroom of the undersigned judge, examples of which include discourtesy to opposing counsel and disrespectfulness to the court."
Judge Stern on Monday had a letter hand-delivered to Mr. Cox in which she asked that he transfer Ms. Statom from her courtroom. Mr. Cox then paid a visit to Judge Stern and told her he did not believe she had the authority to control who he sent from his office to Division II of criminal court.
He asked that if Judge Stern intended to follow through on the action that she put the matter in the form of a court order. On Tuesday morning, the judge did.
The judge and prosecutor had a clash on Friday when Judge Stern approved a motion by Public Defender Ardena Garth to have a murder case passed to a later date. Ms. Statom opposed the request.
The Stern order said Ms. Statom "rose to remark that it is impossible to move a first-degree murder case to trial in Division II and that there are more first-degree murder cases pending in Division II than in any other division of the criminal court."
The trial of Mary Walker in the murder of her husband, Robert Freeman, had been set for June 25. It was the first setting.
Ms. Garth asked that it be postponed, saying the court had granted a request for expert help in the case and that some portions of the work of the expert could not be done until September. Judge Stern agreed to move the case to Nov. 12.
Judge Stern said the alleged disrespect by Ms. Statom "has often taken the form of apostrophic commentary upon rulings of the Court unfavorable to the state, the purpose of which seems not to persuade but to mock the Court and the effect of which is to subvert the authority and dignity not only of this Court in particular but of the judiciary in general. Her attitude as expressed by her face, tone of voice, and body language has been as disruptive as her comments themselves."
Judge Stern said the incident Friday "leads the Court to conclude that its prior, informal attempts to resolve the matter without resort to sanctions have been unsuccessful. The undersigned has conversed with Ms. Statom alone and in the presence of other Division II prosecutors and with the exeuctive assistant attorney general, the manager of the office of the district attorney general, and the district attorney general himself, seeking a resolution. Despite promises to resolve the matter in one way or another, a resolution has yet to be found and changes do not appear to be forthcoming."
The judge said, "It therefore remains to the Court to take appropriate measures to ensure order and decorum in its courtroom."
In taking the action she said she was not relying on the court's contempt powers, "but upon the necessary and inherent power of a court of record 'to discipline any lawyer by suspension, or disbarment from practice in that particular court, for misconduct directly affecting the processes and proceedings of that court.'"
Dorothy Huguley, mother of murder victim Robert Freeman, said she was in court Friday. She said, "I saw or heard nothing that Lila said that could have offended the judge. We - the family - are the ones who should have been offended. This case has gone on long enough. We need some closure."
Mrs. Huguley said of the death of her oldest son, "It was a senseless killing. The defense has had time enough to prepare. If Ardena is not ready yet, she never is going to get ready."
Otis Rumph, whose brother was allegedly killed by a man whose case is before Judge Stern, said he agrees with Ms. Statom about murder cases in that court.
He said the case of Jerome Harris, who is charged with killing Charles King Jr. (brother of Otis Rumph) and another man, "has gone on and on with delay after delay. The judge lets Ms. Garth get away with it."
Mr. Rumph said Harris "manipulated the system before." He said he "kept changing attorneys and got a number of delays until all the witnesses were no longer around."
He said, "The judge is one who makes the final decision. She's the one going along with all these delays."
The shooting of Charles King Jr. and Terry Slaughter occurred May 10, 2000.
Ms. Statom has been a prosecutor since 1989. She began her career in the district attorney's office in Nashville.