Since high school civics I’ve always wanted a job in law enforcement. I accomplished that goal the year I became an ADA with the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office.
I have been a prosecutor since I graduated from Cecil C. Humphries School of Law in 2003. I began my career in the 25th Judicial District.
During my time in the 25th I jury tried a dozen or so cases. In 2007 we moved to Chattanooga. District Attorney General Bill Cox hired me as an ADA and at that time General Pinkston was the Executive Assistant District Attorney General. I was assigned to Hamilton County Criminal Court, Division Three and began serving in front of Judge Don Poole.
In 2008 I tried my first homicide case with General Pinkston. The defendant in the case raped, murdered and dumped the victim’s body behind a gas station. Even though I had already tried a number of cases what I saw from General Pinkston over the course of the trial was truly impressive. General Pinkston possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge of the law. He is a great orator and is consistently able to apply his experience and knowledge to the facts of any case. He has the rare ability to communicate these complex ideas and legal issues to the public and to his juries. He is fair, compassionate and highly motivated. General Pinkston is a career prosecutor. During the trial I decided I was going to learn as much as I could from this man. General Pinkston is my most influential mentor and the greatest prosecutor I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
I became General Pinkston’s Executive Assistant in 2018 and one of my primary duties is training young prosecutors. Most of what I teach them comes directly from what I’ve learned from General Pinkston. One of the primary principles General Pinkston instilled in me and I instill in the prosecutors we train is “do the right thing.”Sometimes doing the right thing is not popular but prosecutors are bound by the facts and law and not by public opinion.
I have also worked with Coty Wamp in her capacity as a Public Defender and Legal Counsel for the Sheriff and have had several negative experiences. On many occasions, as a public defender, Ms. Wamp told me and other assistants in Division Three that she “hated” her clients. One time Ms. Wamp told us, “I just want to get this done so I don’t have to talk to (them) anymore.”
In 2016 I had a case where a Hamilton County deputy shot at a potentially armed robbery suspect. Ms. Wamp represented the Defendant. In an email she suggested she would make a “story” out of the shooting if the deputy was not “punished.” I chalked it up to inexperience and ignored the email.
In early 2022 Ms. Wamp interfered with the prosecution of a suspect who almost shot a pregnant woman. After charges had been filed and while the case was within the jurisdiction of the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Wamp interviewed witnesses in the case. She did this without first informing the Soddy Daisy Police Department and withheld the information from the HCDA’s office. Additionally, Ms. Wamp used her position at the Sheriff’s office to attempt to have the case set inappropriately on the Soddy Daisy Municipal Court docket to be dismissed. When that didn’t work, Ms. Wamp attempted to set the case in Hamilton County General Sessions Court. Ms. Wamp finally contacted the DA’s office after she was made aware the SDPD had contacted our office and informed us of her inappropriate conduct. Currently, Ms. Wamp’s actions are being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Both her bosses, Chief Deputy Austin Garrett and Sheriff Jim Hammond, were made aware of her actions and agreed the TBI investigation was proper. In my opinion, Ms. Wamp’s actions can be characterized as either severely incompetent or something much worse.
Based on my experience with both attorneys it is my opinion General Pinkston is the only qualified prosecutor on the ballot. Therefore, on May 3rd I will pull a Republican ballot and vote for General Pinkston. I encourage you to do the same.
Cameron Williams
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On April 12th Cameron Williams, not kin to me, wrote a letter that I have had to let marinate for a couple of days. I’ll admit I was a bit confused at first because I thought the letter was merely an endorsement of his boss, Neal Pinkston. As I have stated before, I think Neal Pinkston is a fine fellow, just not getting the job done as our District Attorney General.
After reading it a few more times I have realized it’s more of a letter about Cameron’s history in law and a bashing of his bosses opponent, Coty Wamp. That’s 70 percent or more of the letter. It’s leads me to believe the polls, strongly in Ms. Wamp’s favor, have Cameron on edge and he has had a front row seat to view the failures of our current DAG, Neal Pinkston. If he is concerned about his position with the office his letter makes more sense. Talk bad about the opponent and cast eyes away from the incumbent. It’s what lawyers are supposed to do the win their case.
What cannot be hidden are the failures of the current office holder. There are several that are really glaring. First, having his only opponent investigated by the big Democrat DA from Nashville; second, going after Commissioner Tim Boyd after Mr. Boyd has held him accountable, or at least to the extent he had the power to do so; and third, having an accused murderer and drug dealer in your grasp for 6 years and still not being able to get a conviction.
A lot of my fellow citizens have an issue with the hiring and paying, with our county tax dollars, his wife. After the State Comptroller said it was not legal, Neal Pinkston puts her on leave, with pay. I want a deal like that, one where I get to make over $90,000.00 a year without having to work at all. Who does that? His wife, Melydia Clewell Pinkston, is a darling and I have adored her for many years. Even so, the deal reeks and flies in the face of the State Comptroller and tax payers.
I’ve known Coty Wamp since she was a little girl. She has always been a rock star. She has worked as a defender, prosecutor and for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, all to gain the experience she needs to be our next District Attorney General. Some people call that job hoping. I call it wisdom beyond her years, knowing what arrows she needed in her quiver to do the job right. It’s her time and our time to elect our first female in the history of Hamilton County. I didn’t vote for her in early voting because she is female, rather because she is the best.
You want to say she is riding her daddy’s coattails. Fine, then you have to say the same thing about Peyton and Eli Manning. However, we all know better. They made there own way by working hard and earning their place, just as Coty has done. Did the Manning brothers have an advantage having a father of such greatness, Archie “Who” Manning? Yes, but they still had to put their talents to good us, just as Coty Wamp has done.
Cameron Williams, spend your time keeping some of the gun slingers off the streets. Our fine Chattanooga Police Department and Sheriff’s department risk their lives protecting us from them. When you fail to convict them, they’re right back at it. Please be more attentive to your job and less attentive to bashing Coty Wamp.
J. Pat Williams