June 27, 2002

Mr. James W. Kirby, Executive Director
District Attorneys General Conference
226 Capital Blvd., Suite 800
Nashville, TN 37243-0890

RE: Proposed Legislation to expand D.A.'s Discretion

Dear Wally,

We have all experienced situations where the State AG refused to pursue appeals for us under TRAP 3, 9 and 10, on suppression issues and sentencing issues; and even where the State AG refused to support our jury verdicts in the appellate courts.

We propose the following simple changes consistent with the Constitution to give DA's the option to continue our representation of the State in the appellate courts in cases of our choosing.

Amend TCA 8-6-109(b)(2) on Duties of Attorney General and Reporter to read:

"To attend to all business of the state in civil matters in the court of appeals and the supreme court; and to attend to all business of the state in criminal matters in the court of criminal appeal, and the supreme court except those cases arising within the jurisdiction of a district attorney general in which the district attorney general has filed notice in the appellate court and with the attorney general and reporter for the state of his intent to represent the State in the appellate court."

Amend TCA 8-7-103(1) to add the following:

"; and may in his discretion represent the state in the appellate courts in criminal matters arising in his district upon notice given to the appellate court and the attorney general and reporter for the state."

The AG and Reporter would still be obligated to represent the State in cases when the DA has not given notice to exercise his option.

This requires no additional moneys and is a power that would probably be exercised sparingly, but one we need.

As a recent example of this, the State Attorney General recently refused to appeal an order of our criminal judge which gave the evidence in a police evidence locker (original documents and original audio tapes) to a criminal defendant after indictment and before trial rather than simply providing for reasonable inspection consistent with the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Very truly yours,

James N. Ramsey
District Attorney General

JNR/tg

Cc: Paul Summers, Attorney General and Reporter for the State
         Gus Radford, President, DA's Conference
         Representative Gene Caldwell
         Senator Randy McNally
         All Tennessee District Attorneys