Candidates for District Attorney John Allen Brooks, Neal Pinkston and Coty Wamp faced off in a debate at UTC’s student center Monday evening. Ms. Wamp addressed concerns about her experience, while DA Pinkston discussed his wife’s employment.
“Before we were married I looked at other examples in Hamilton County and in the state, where relatives worked together and it is a prevalent practice,” said Mr.
Pinkston. “I structured the office flow of organization around the sheriff's office in particular, where Sheriff Hammond employs several relatives.”
Mr. Pinkston said since the comptroller's report came out, he has been in a series of discussions with the comptroller and the attorney general about questions he has on the nepotism policy and how it can be better defined. Mr. Pinkston said he asked for definitions more specifically on direct client supervision, but has not received them. But he said it is an ongoing dialogue with the comptroller and attorney general where he continues to have conversations regarding nepotism.
When asked about what she would say to those who believe she may not have the experience to run the DA’s office, Coty Wamp boasted about her experience as a public defender where she handled hundreds of criminal defendants. She said she went to the DA’s office as a major crimes prosecutor where she tried more cases in the tenth judicial district in the period of three years than any other prosecutor in that judicial district.
“I do not adhere to the philosophy that the person that has been doing the job the longest is the best for the job,” said Ms. Wamp. “If we did that in business, businesses would fail all the time so my record speaks for itself.”
Ms. Wamp said every case she took to trial was a major felony. She said she has been at the sheriff's office for the last two years where she has learned all types of law. She said she is the first counsel at the sheriff's office that Hamilton County has ever had therefore she has seen the law enforcement side that neither of the other candidates have seen. Ms. Wamp added that she has a passion for child sex abuse cases.
Candidates were asked which offenses would be made a priority and which ones would be less of a priority in their office. John Brooks said he would prioritize crimes of violence and abuse of children while downgrading marijuana crimes. He said it is also time for the state to look at the drug laws and be more specific on amounts.
“I think that child abuse is a terrible crime and should be fully prosecuted,” said Mr. Brooks. “It's also time we legalize marijuana because it's foolish to go ahead and put people in jail for that.”
Ms. Wamp responds to the question by saying her office will have a gang and violent crimes unit. She said child sex abuse offenses are a priority and there will be a prosecutor for these cases. She said another priority of hers is fentanyl as there were 194 overdose deaths in Hamilton County last year and 128 of those were from fentanyl alone.
‘If we are going to talk about violent crime we better talk about fentanyl because that is the most violent crime in this community right now,” said Ms. Wamp. “If you sell fentanyl and you are caught and I have the evidence to prove it, you will go to prison for as long as the law allows.”
Mr. Pinkston said his main priorities are violence against individuals and children. He said lower level offenses like domestic violence are also a priority because that can compound itself and lead to more violence in the future. He said other priorities include driving under the influence, drug cases like fentanyl and gun and gang violence.
“The only way to not be victimized by DUIs is to not drive and in this city and county that's nearly impossible,” said Mr. Pinkston.
He said his office has not really been prosecuting marijuana possession for the last few years because there are issues with trying to determine what is marijuana and hemp. Mr. Pinkston said driving offenses that are not DUIs or vehicular assaults are not prioritized because people who are trying to get their license back should not be vetted into the system for years and years.