The Concurrent Grand Jury, headed by Hugh Moore Jr., continued to meet despite the COVID issue.
In juror comments, it was noted that Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute served numerous counties and many of those who are released end up as homeless in Chattanooga rather than trying to make their way back home.
The panel submitted this final report:
Concurrent Grand Jury Continued to Adapt to COVID-19:
This Jury conducted all of its sessions in the regular Grand Jury room.
There were no issues. There were a number of COVID cases among the Jurors, but with the assistance of the Alternate Jurors, each scheduled session was completed.
Additional Named Alternate Grand Jurors:
It would be helpful if six alternate Jurors were selected for the panel. In past years two Alternates were selected, and more recently four have been selected. It would be very helpful is the empaneled Jury included six drawn and selected Alternate Jurors.
Cases Presented:
The Concurrent Grand Jury met for 13 days. Because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic the Jury was not able to conduct its usual inspections of the Hamilton County Jail, the Silverdale Correctional Facility, or the Juvenile Court and Facility.
During the term, 215 cases were presented to the Concurrent Grand Jury. The Grand Jury returned 165 true bills, 1 no bill, and 49 presentments.
Assistant District Attorney Kate Lavery has continued to work diligently in an effort to have each of the law enforcement agencies in the County to designate officers to appear and present cases for other officers in their departments. Substantial and continuing progress has been made in this regard. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, and the Cities of Red Bank, Collegedale, and East Ridge, among others, have followed this practice. Nevertheless, as in the past, on some days comparatively few law enforcement officers appeared to present their cases. As a result, the Jury would adjourn shortly after 1:00 pm. The Jury recognizes the many problems inherent in scheduling these appearances (shift schedules, court appearances, paperwork issues, training, vacations, etc.), but questions whether some improvements might be made, and through those improvements the time of the Jurors be more efficiently used. Apparently there are many cases ready for presentation, and the Grand Jury is always ready to hear them.
The most common and continuing complaint from Grand Jurors is that their time is not used efficiently. The Jurors are ready to serve on each assigned day, but more often than not, there are not enough witnesses to occupy a full day.
As noted above, several of the presenting law enforcement agencies now allow officers to present cases worked by other officers, which is fully permissible under the law. The Chattanooga Police Department, through Sgt. April Bolton, has always done particularly well with this method of presentation. Sgt. Bolton will frequently present as many as 10-15 cases at a time, which allows other CPD officers to maintain their regular schedules.
Presentations from Judges and others:
Four Hamilton County Judges took time out of their busy calendars to meet with and take questions from the Jury (Criminal Court Judges Greenholtz, Poole, and Steelman, and General Sessions Judge Alex McVeigh). The judges' presentations were universally well received and appreciated by the Jury. Most Grand Jurors have no prior experience or familiarity with the criminal justice system. These talks enabled the Jurors to understand where their work fits in the system, and how vital their role is as impartial citizen gatekeepers to the Criminal Courts.
Respect for law enforcement:
During their term of service the jurors heard from scores of local law enforcement officers, from not only the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the Chattanooga Police Department, but also from several of the suburban municipal departments, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and others. As with other Juries, these Jurors learned first-hand what these public servants face on a daily basis, and as a result, the Jurors' respect for the service of these law enforcement officers was strengthened. Each of these officers is commended by the Concurrent Grand Jury for their dedication, hard work, and skill. Several officers have used the audio-visual aids in the Grand Jury room to enhance presentation of their cases, and the Jury recommends more use of video, and still photographs, as appropriate and applicable.
Comments from Grand Jurors:
First of all I’d like to thank the men and women who serve in the various police departments in Hamilton County. I always knew the police had a noble, albeit difficult task in keeping the different communities safe, but seeing it in person in grand jury service made it that much more real for me. I am particularly touched by one officer who wept as he gave testimony over the things he had seen. While I am moved by his compassion for those he serves and protects, I am also concerned for the toll this job must take on him as well as the others that don’t wear their heart on their sleeve.
In hindsight now some of the cases that were read out by other officers were confusing. A couple were simple glitches in updating reports, or were easily cleared up when the officer gave his own testimony, but for many of these reports the officer in question was no longer with the police department. Though nothing was said as to why, the age of some of the cases, along with the backlash all the police took from the George Floyd incident, and the lack of care in these reports lead me to believe there’s been a problem with discouragement and/or mental exhaustion. As I started asking around what could be done for the police, it should have come as no surprise (though I later remembered seeing this someplace else) that the police in addition to other first responders have one of the highest rates of suicide as other occupations.
I don’t know who to go to with these ideas, the ways or means of making them happen, or the legality in our structure of government that would allow for them. But I was told that this report is read by our elected officials and I’m hoping those who read this will know the proper channels to go through to engineer these concepts into reality. So here goes.
There needs to be some sort of program or educational effort to help the police maintain their brain health. I’m not talking about just having counselors available, but making them more aware of things they can do to keep their brains in top notch condition. Police officers with healthy brains are less likely to make mistakes that all police will be blamed for, be better able to cope with stress that comes from the job, and be self-aware enough to know when they need to seek help.
Dr. Daniel Amen is a psychiatrist who has studied the brain through spect scans. He’s developed a four circle approach to better mental health and has about 10 clinics nationwide, one of which is in Atlanta. I’ve run out of time to do anymore research, but perhaps contacting them for more information will help the police departments to train their officers in brain fitness. They can learn about the things that hurt the brain (at least 60% of people who attempted suicide had a problem with their left temporal lobe), how to help their brain improve from traumas, toxic exposure to narcotics, etc. They could also learn to discipline their thoughts to stay optimistic even when troublemakers misuse freedom of speech to verbally abuse them. They can learn to maintain good circles of support from friends if not also family and maintain a sense of purpose. They could also learn ways to improve the brain. Ping-pong, continued education and learning to play a musical instrument are all things that can be done to improve the brain. Police would also be better equipped to recognize and manage prisoners with mental illnesses. When Judge Poole spoke to us about mental health court he informed us that the largest mental institutions in the country are the largest prisons in the country.
Also on the topic of mental health; I didn’t realize Moccasin Bend took in people from 15 other counties including Knoxville. While I’m proud Chattanooga has this facility as a resource to help other counties, when many of these individuals get out they have no place for them back home. They then end up becoming part of Chattanooga’s homeless population. It’s also reasonable to assume that if they have no place to live they are not getting their medication, which in turn makes them more vulnerable to either being used by criminals and/or relapsing back into the system. I’ve heard rumors of relocating or at least updating Moccasin Bend. Whatever happens at least on the government end, if Moccasin Bend (and therefore Chattanooga) is taking severe mentally ill patients from other counties then it should have the most state of the art technology for diagnosing and treating patients. More specifically what I’m talking about is a spect scan (I believe there is also a pet scan that does the same thing). A spect scan can identify which parts of the brain are over active, under active, or working just right. Patterns in the brain can help doctors determine which treatment or medication is best suited to treat and individual’s condition as well as eliminate misdiagnosis, thus giving most patients more confidence in their doctor’s diagnosis. It would save the drawn out turmoil of trying one medication for several months to see if it helps, does nothing or creates a new problem before starting on another drug for another several months, and so on. The time saved could then be used to retrain patients to stand on their own two feet when they get out. While these tests are not cheap, demand and time have a way of making technology more economic. Computers once took up an entire room and would have been prohibitively expensive. Now most people carry one that doubles as a phone, camera, and a television in their purse or pocket.
On a separate note, technology is allowing police to take some perpetrators into custody soon after the crimes have been committed, including rape. While rape kits have been the primary tool when the targeted person made a report and police might find the alleged rapist days later, swift apprehension of the suspect means that evidence can now be collected from them. When someone claims they were raped and there are clear signs they were assaulted, (bruises, etc.) and the suspect is in custody within hours of the crime it may be prudent to seek out a warrant to collect evidence from them. For example, (please pardon the indelicacy of what I’m about to say): swab their genitals and their underwear or next closest garment for traces of vaginal fluid or the victim’s DNA, comb the pubic region for any hairs that don’t match, and take any necessary photos. This could be a backup when a rape kit shows not secretions or tearing. No one seems to be considering this so I thought I’d mention it.
Whether any of these things are possible or not, or if something else similar may be in the works, I don’t know, but I do know we’ll go nowhere forward if ideas are not suggested and discussed. Once again, I’d like to thank all the police for their diligence, as well as the jury foremen and the supervising prosecutor for clearing things up, the judges for taking time to explain things to us, and all of you who took the time to read this and considered it.
**
Given the graphic and sensitive nature of some of the cases that are testified to before the Grand Jury, some form of counseling services should be made available to the Jury.
Silverdale Detention Center:
No inspection was possible.
Hamilton County Juvenile Court:
No inspection was possible.
Hamilton County Jail:
No inspection was possible.
Conclusion:
The Jury wishes to extend its thanks to Assistant District Attorneys Kate Lavery and Jerry Sloan, who ably and efficiently presented the State's cases, and explained applicable law. The Jury appreciated the always pleasant and polite assistance provided by Sgt. April Bolton, and by Don Klasing who scheduled the appearance of witnesses. Larry Henry and his staff in the Circuit Court Clerk's Office (Margo McConnell) supported the Jury in every way.
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HUGH J. MOORE, JR.
CONCURRENT GRAND JURY FOREMAN
Filed with the Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk
Dated: April, 2022