The Concurrent Grand Jury was sworn in on Sept. 11 and met between Sept. 18 and Dec. 12 every other Monday and Tuesday, with no hearings on Sept. 16-17 or Nov. 20-21. Hamilton County has two grand juries who share the same duties and responsibilities on alternate weeks – basically, to hear evidence from law enforcement officers and determine if the person arrested or being investigated for a crime should be formally charged with that crime. This report is only from the Concurrent Grand Jury- the Regular Grand Jury has its separate report.
The CGJ was a mixed group in terms of professional and life experience, specific expertise, beliefs and lifestyle, ideologies and age. There were 13 regular grand jurors, with five alternates. We were an engaged group who listened and questioned the testifying officers, sought legal clarification from the district attorney when needed, and endeavored to consider as much information as needed to make crucial and independent decisions. With every case, we considered the impact on the victims, the accused, and the public before rendering our decisions. Some evidence and facts were vigorously discussed, but all decisions were unanimous.
We heard 284 cases which contained 754 separate charges, on which we returned 608 true bills and 146 no bills. We considered 50 direct presentments of case facts that contained 151 separate charges, on which we returned 143 true bills and eight no bills.
When a case is presented to the CGJ, the officers have generally already spent many hours on arrests, follow-up investigations, paperwork, and reports to the District Attorney’s office and the courts. The crimes and charges that are then brought to the CGJ are generally well prepared and not frivolous. If there are minor or duplicative charges against an accused, those are often culled out before the cases are brought to us. The DA’s office sometimes recommends that the CGJ return a no bill on a particular charge - for instance, if the charge is consumed by another charge against the same defendant, if there are duplicate charges, or if it believes that a charge is not viable and should not be pursued. After the evidence is explained, most but not all cases are true billed.
Case Presentations and Issues; Information Provided by Law Enforcement
The facts of each case are presented by law enforcement officers from many surrounding jurisdictions, including Hamilton County, Chattanooga, East Ridge, Collegedale, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Soddy Daisy and Sale Creek. Officers from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and UTC also present cases.
We heard details of many different crimes, including first-degree premeditated murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, rape, child rape, child abuse, aggravated assault, theft of all sorts, breaking and entering, domestic assault, fraud, false reports to police, identity theft, and many variations of unlawful drug manufacture and sales (some resulting in death or serious injuries, some with children involved or present), driving under the influence, and neighborhood and random shootings.
The cases we heard mostly occurred within the last 6-18 months, although there are some older cases that may result from various system backlogs, or the death or disappearance of the accused, victims or witnesses.
District Attorney Coty Wamp or Assistant District Attorney Tom Landis are present for all cases presented to the CGJ. They assist in answering any legal or process questions the jurors have but they do not present evidence, and they are not present when we vote to true bill or no bill a case or a charge. No persons other than the grand jurors and the foreman are present for consideration, discussions and voting on each case.
The staff that handles the order and presentation of witnesses to the CGJ does an amazing job of coordinating the many officer schedules and contingencies. We are seldom aware of all the scheduling challenges that the testifying officers and the liaison staff face. Don Klasing, CGJ Liaison on behalf of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s office, and Sgt. Mike Russ of the Chattanooga Police Department were indispensable in their continuing efforts to assure law enforcement officers were available to explain their facts and cases. This is no easy task as officers have many duties, time constraints and emergency situations that sometimes make it difficult to come before the grand jury at a time certain. The CGJ recommends that the staff and officers continue these efforts so there is minimal downtime during CGJ sessions.
Tribute to Sgt. Mike Russ: The CGJ must now mention the very sad fact that Sgt. Mike Russ unexpectedly passed away during this term in early December. He is truly and deeply mourned and will be missed. He was devoted, organized, engaged and often made us laugh when we most needed it. We pray for his family, friends and fellow officers.
Sgt. April Bolton has returned to handle the liaison duties until the CPD replaces Sgt. Russ. Sgt. Bolton is no stranger to the grand jury – having been a great liaison officer for it before she moved into CPD headquarters.
At times, officers who come before the grand jury must wait for other officers to finish or for the CGJ to handle other business before they begin their testimony. In turn, the CGJ must sometimes wait for officers to show up to testify. However, everyone involved generally shows grace and patience as we work on these timing issues, and the CGJ truly appreciates that.
Officers sometimes present case facts for officers who cannot be in attendance, and the CGJ believes this arrangement is often helpful in preventing lag time, but it does present its own challenges. If an officer testifies for one who cannot attend, the presenter is limited to the facts that are on the face of the affidavits of complaints or case reports. If these written materials are thorough and coherent, the presenter can properly outline the facts and answer any questions we might have. However, if the written reports are lacking or not well-written, then the CGJ might delay its decisions and ask the original officers to come before it to clarify. Almost always, the original officers can answer the questions.
The CGJ is impressed with the thoroughness of the testifying officers, not only in presenting but in answering follow-up questions. These answers provide both context for law enforcement procedures and clarification of specific case facts.
We recommend that all officers remain diligent and trained in what facts the CGJ needs to render its decisions, and that those facts are presented in clear and understandable language, whether written or verbal.
Some of the cases that come before the jury are difficult to hear, but we recognize that the officers are even more impacted each day by the crimes they present to us. We know that some informal and formal procedures are in place to help officers cope with the stresses of their job, and we recommend that those be extended and braced up where needed to make access easy and meaningful. This recommendation has been made by previous grand juries but remains an independent recommendation of this CGJ at this time.
Law enforcement officers also took their individual time to help us understand the structures, challenges, and internal workings of processing various crimes. Officer Terry Topping of the Chattanooga Police Department was hands-on excellent in teaching us about some of the drug issues – quantities of drugs, dosages, effects of certain drugs on the human body, Narcan and other methods of saving lives from overdoses, and what happens in the field to victims, the accused and the officers.
The CPD also provided us the same excellent type of information for DUI issues in the field. We learned detailed information about the field sobriety testing process – how it works, when it’s used, or why it might not be used in some instances. We are very concerned about the recidivism rate of DUI offenders as well as the blood alcohol and illegal drug content of repeat offenders. Again, we recommend our legislature continue to explore this area of criminal law and help protect the populace from the terrible costs of human life and limb, as well as property damage.
Other CPD officers explained the workings of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network to us. The NIBIN Program automates ballistics evaluations and provides actionable investigative leads in a timely manner. It allows localities to work together on firearm ballistics that cross jurisdictional lines and can be of great assistance in solving gun crimes and identifying if a certain gun has been used in other crimes or in other jurisdictions.
Officer Brandon Watson shared information about the Crisis Co-Response Unit and how that unit has combined law enforcement officers, social workers, caseworkers, hospitals, first responders and courts in assisting citizens in need of mental health care. His department works with many local, state, and nationwide mental health resource providers. The CGJ was very impressed with the CCRU’s work and encourages continued and robust funding for it. We share the very serious concern that mental health issues of both perpetrators and victims of crimes permeate the day-to-day work of law enforcement and the criminal courts. And we strongly believe that the CCRU is exactly the type of program the departments should be developing and implementing.
We enjoyed hearing from Lt. Sean O’Brien, who came with his canine officer Gunner (Gunny), who is a member of the CPD gun team. We learned more about how canine officers are trained and used in the field, and thoroughly enjoyed interacting with Lt. O’Brien and Gunny, and wish them both the best on their retirement.
The CGJ recognizes that Sheriff Austin Garrett and his staff are also working with inmates to assist them with their mental and emotional issues; that Judge Lila Statom heads the Sessions Court mental health program and Judge Alex McVeigh oversees the drug court and its processes. There is no doubt of the dedication and time that both Judges McVeigh and Statom put into these programs.
In our criminal courts, Judge Amanda Dunn handles the drug court, and Judge Boyd Patterson oversees the mental health court. All these programs are excellent ones, but of course, more resources are needed in Hamilton County and throughout the State for them to thrive and grow. It should be noted that these specialized courts are in addition to the judges’ normal court duties.
Illegal drugs are killing our adults and children. And the criminals who sell and buy them are clogging the legal system and using up precious law enforcement resources. Illegal drugs raise problems on every level of societal structure, and some of those problems have their genesis in other countries and across borders when the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs is brought into the U.S.
Chief Celeste Murphy of the CPD spoke to us about the successes and challenges of her administration and the various steps put into place to make Chattanooga safer. She has gained raises for her officers, has reorganized officer resources where needed, and is providing training to help close more crimes of opportunity in the city – for instance thefts and muggings.
The CGJ recommends (as have previous grand juries) to Chief Murphy and to Sheriff Garrett that the departments continue to hold or attend as many jobs fair-type programs as possible to explain the job opportunities for law enforcement work in our area. There remains an obvious shortage of officers and everything should be done to make law enforcement jobs viable – emphasizing better pay, excellent training and exploring every way to win the support of the citizenry for law enforcement. To these ends, we encourage continuance of and publicity about the programs available for high school graduates and others to obtain jobs that can lead to a meaningful law enforcement career.
Other Recommendations:
This CGJ (and most other grand juries) have recommended an increase in jury “pay” and expenses. We believe that daily rates for grand juries in Tennessee are controlled largely by state law, and that Hamilton County’s $13/day is one of the highest. Our grand jurors also receive free parking while in session. Still, the CGJ must bear the expense of travel, meals, and other expenses (for instance, childcare). The CGJ strongly recommends an increased daily stipend. No grand juror is looking to “make money” from this civic service, but also none should lose money in performing it.
Conclusion, Additional Speakers, Visits, Tours, and Further Thanks
The CGC was pleased to have the opportunity to visit the Hamilton County Jail and Detention Center correctional facilities (formerly known as Silverdale) and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court this term.
At the Juvenile Court, Judge Rob Philyaw and his staff gave us a tour of the facilities and explained many of the programs the court has available for young offenders, including youth and recovery courts, mediation referral assistance, child support assistance programs, and volunteer organizations such as CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates program), as well as a Foster Care Review Board. The goal of all these juvenile programs is to prevent recidivism and assist minors and their families in steering their lives in a non-crime direction. We applaud these efforts and recommend continued and additional resources for Juvenile Court to continue its work with youthful offenders.
At the Hamilton County jail, we were able to see some of the new facilities and improvements to the older ones. It appears that the housing and care of the inmates is being considered with the new facilities and improvements to the old, but of necessity the construction also hampered the areas we were able to visit. And there are still entering inmates who must sleep on mats on the floor, although it was explained that this situation is temporary. We assume the new facilities will alleviate overcrowding and improve the overall jail facilities for inmates as well as help staff as they operate the jail.
The CGJ recommends that the Sheriff’s Department continue whenever and wherever possible to educate the public about the challenges of, and improvements to, the jail facilities. There appears to be a great deal of misinformation about the operation and facilities of the jail; some of that misapprehension is inherent in a well-functioning, questioning society. But some is simply ignorance of what is happening at the jail and how it operates.
All the Assistant DAs who worked with us were professional and helpful to our understanding of the law. None of them ever encouraged us to render any certain decision, but rather answered our questions patiently and fairly. We believe the leadership and ongoing work of the office is in solid hands. We would be remiss if we didn’t specifically thank ADA Tom Landis (who spent the most time with us) for his wisdom, patience, and knowledge. His knowledge of the law and criminal procedure is matched only by his fine sense of humor – a trait that often helped us through the harder cases.
Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk Larry Henry and his staff – particularly Margo McConnell – are responsible for the grand jurors’ well-being and care. They are there from the first day the jury is sworn to the last day of our service. They provide whatever we need and are always quick responders when we make requests and suggestions. This system would fail without them.
In addition to everyone mentioned above, we further thank our criminal court judges Barry Steelman, Boyd Patterson, and Amanda Dunn for overseeing the grand juries in addition to all their other duties. They are always there to answer questions and guide us. Judge Patterson spoke to us at the beginning of our term and always demonstrates his continued support for a grand jury that is responsible, capable, and independent.
We were unable to have all our criminal and sessions court judges speak with us this term - this lack was due to scheduling problems only. Our foreman will to endeavor to schedule talks as early in future sessions as is possible. The judges are always willing and they certainly help our knowledge of the legal process in the courts. DA Coty Wamp did speak to us at the beginning of the term and she was a great help in our continuing knowledge of the standards and processes of the criminal legal system as we heard cases. She and her staff provided us answers as we needed throughout the term.
If we’ve forgotten to thank others who assisted or spoke with us through these four months, it is our lack and not theirs and we apologize.