NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Over the strenuous objections of Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, a Davidson County judge ruled Thursday that she will allow time for a full hearing in a first-degree murder case regarding allegations of the DA’s office eavesdropping on defense lawyers.
Criminal Court Judge Cynthia Chappell’s ruling came in the case of defendant Calvin Atchison, who is awaiting trial for the brutal murder of Velma Tharpe in a North Nashville alley in June 2000. It comes a week after the release of a damning report from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office revealing that defense teams had been secretly recorded as they reviewed evidence inside the DA’s offices.
“There certainly needs to be a determination made of, number one, whether there is a conflict of interest -- and if there’s not, whether or not what we know creates an appearance of impropriety,” Chappell ruled. “And then we need to determine the remedy.”
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Atchison’s attorney Ben Powers had filed a motion to disqualify Funk’s team from the case after the comptroller’s investigative report included a photo of Powers and a private investigator reviewing evidence in the Atchison case.
The attorney and investigator had been captured on the DA’s recording system, Powers said, as they reviewed the evidence and discussed their strategy.
Funk, appearing personally on a case that had previously been handled by two assistants, argued that the comptroller’s investigative report “should not carry any weight.”
He pointed to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s decision not to pursue criminal charges in the matter.
The DA did not acknowledge that Skrmetti had warned that “closure of this matter in my office does not absolve you or your staff of any ethical duties that may be implicated.”
“No one in this office ever intentionally recorded, no one ever reviewed, no one ever did anything with regards to going over that which was done in an office, in our office, with signage and microphones,” Funk argued.
Powers objected to Funk trying to argue against his motion when prosecutors have not yet responded in writing and the hearing was supposed to just be about the case's schedule.
“Hang on, Judge,” Powers said, interrupting Funk. “I’m going to have to object at this point. Are we scheduling the case or are we hearing….”
Funk angrily cut him off. “This is exactly why we need to schedule quickly, Mr. Powers.”
The district attorney general called Power’s motion an attack on the credibility of veteran prosecutors Roger Moore and Amy Hunter.
“This motion filches from them their good names,” Funk said. “And so what I’m asking for the State is because of the damage that’s done just by filing of this motion, because of how outrageous this motion is, the State is asking for an immediate hearing in this case.”
Funk was pushing for a hearing on Powers’ motion as early as next week, but the defense attorney said he would need more time to investigate and subpoena witnesses.
“It’s striking to me that someone would put allegations this outrageous in a document that he’s not ready to defend,” the DA shot back. “This is a situation where, having put the cloud over this office with a filing in court, he’s not ready to defend it.”
Powers responded, “Your Honor, this motion did not create the cloud. It reacted to the cloud, and it’s not baseless.”
At one point, Funk suggested the arguments over the recording system were missing the point.
“This is a very straightforward case: his client murdered a prostitute and left a pool of semen on her stomach. DNA identifies him as the person.”
Chappell set the hearing for Dec. 13.
Below is a summary of NewsChannel 5’s recent investigations of the DA's Office:
Nov. 8, 2022: He's a $75,000-a-year government employee who gets paid with little evidence of what he's doing for the money. Week after week, he bills taxpayers for almost 20 hours a week, hours frequently listed in the middle of the night when no one else is around.
He's almost never recorded swiping through the office security system, logging into the computer system or sending an email.
Click here to read the story that kicked off this investigation.
Nov. 10, 2022: An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has uncovered new questions about whether employees in Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office crossed the line, using your tax dollars during last spring's campaign to help get the boss reelected.
That months-long investigation would eventually lead to damaging emails showing campaign work being done using office computers, as well as evidence of an attempt to recreate vacation requests for one employee who was volunteering for Funk's campaign.
Dec. 19, 2022: New photos and emails from inside Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's office are renewing questions about whether government resources were used to help get the boss re-elected. The photos of assistant DA Sunny Eaton's desk show a stack of domestic violence dockets for cases that had been handled by Funk's challenger.
Read more about what our investigation uncovered here.
Feb. 9, 2023: District Attorney Glenn Funk's team installed listening devices in areas around the DA's office capable of picking up conversations of employees and visitors who are not warned about the audio monitoring, NewsChannel 5 has learned.
In a written statement, Funk's office insisted "there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for conversations in public places."
There’s more to the story that can be found here.
Feb. 20, 2023: How many listening devices were placed in and around Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office? New emails obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates are raising that question — even as Tennessee's attorney general opens a criminal investigation into Funk's office. The newly obtained emails raise the possibility that the eavesdropping could have been even more pervasive.
Click here to read more about those emails.
March 24, 2023: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents and technicians descended upon the offices of District Attorney General Glenn Funk as part of an on-going criminal investigation into the operations of the DA's office. About a dozen TBI personnel were seen going in and out of Funk's offices in downtown Nashville.
The full story can be found here.
May 2, 2023: When Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents descended upon the offices of Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk back in March, the DA issued a statement saying they were there following his "invitation." Now, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned agents were executing a search warrant issued by a Davidson County judge, authorizing them to look for evidence of criminal activity — meaning it was not a friendly visit as much as it was a raid.
You can read more about this development by clicking here.
June 28, 2023: So who's funding the political campaigns that affect you and your family? That's the question raised by our latest NewsChannel 5 investigation. That investigation discovered a number of questionable contributions that helped fuel Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's re-election campaign. Funk's campaign says those discrepancies were all innocent mistakes.
Click here to read more about those questionable contributions.
Aug. 17, 2023: The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted to take no action regarding a series of questionable contributions to Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's 2022 re-election campaign. Board members argued that there was nothing else for them to do since no one has filed a sworn complaint alleging any violations of campaign finance laws.
There’s more to the story here.
Sept. 19, 2023: An unprecedented raid of the Nashville District Attorney's Office in March included a search of DA Glenn Funk's own office — including his laptop, briefcase and other electronics — as TBI agents sought evidence of possible illegal wiretapping, according to newly unsealed court documents. Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith ordered the release of documents in response to a motion filed by NewsChannel 5.
This is what agents were seeking.
Feb. 23, 2024: Documents that Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk fought to keep secret raise new questions about eavesdropping in and around the DA's offices. Those documents, produced as a result of a months-long legal battle waged by NewsChannel 5, reveal there were more microphones — and more concern about conversations being monitored — than the DA admitted.
Click here to see what was in those documents.
Sept. 25, 2024: A damning state investigation concludes that Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office operated an extensive surveillance system that secretly recorded conversations of criminal defense attorneys, members of the DA’s own staff and visitors without their knowledge.
Read more about the report's findings here.
Sept. 25, 2024: Tennessee's lead government watchdog is calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor for a second opinion on whether Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk or anyone in his office violated any laws.
You can watch that interview here.
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com
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