NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk, responding to allegations of his office eavesdropping on defense attorneys, says a recently released state investigative report is “filled with inaccuracies and misleading innuendo.”
Funk’s team fired back Thursday in a written response to a motion to disqualify them from the prosecution of murder defendant Calvin Atchison. Investigators determined that Atchison’s defense team was recorded when they came to Funk’s office to review evidence.
The response argues that Funk deputies Roger Moore and Amy Hunter, the prosecutors in the Atchison case, never intended that defense attorney Ben Powers would be recorded.
“Deputy Moore did not attempt to record the viewing in this case and did not know the recorder was ‘on,’” the response insists.
“Neither deputy, General Funk nor the information technology director have any idea who activated the recording, how many days, hours, or minutes the recording was activated before and after Mr. Powers’ visit, or why it was activated. None of these individuals intentionally recorded Mr. Powers.”
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The DA’s motion contends that the room where Powers and a private investigator viewed the evidence in the case “was adorned with a sign advising of audio and video recording.”
That claim conflicts with the investigative report issued by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office that says “Investigators noted several signs warning of video surveillance on the floors occupied by the District Attorney’s Office, but no signs warning of audio surveillance.”
Defense attorney Powers said in his motion that neither he nor his investigator knew that their conversations about the case were subject to being recorded.
The comptroller’s report advises that Funk and his office may have violated laws against wiretapping, as well as breaching their ethical responsibilities and infringing on defendants’ constitutional rights.
But Funk points to a letter from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in which he concludes the evidence was not sufficient to guarantee a “successful” criminal prosecution.
The state's response claims that Skrmetti's letter had concluded that "the fruit of the investigation lacked 'quality and veracity.'"
Friday, Chief Deputy Attorney General Lacey Mase disputed that interpretation in a written statement:
"In the Attorney General's letter to General Funk, language about quality and veracity is not a critique of any specific evidence but rather a recitation of the universal standard that defines when a prosecutor may bring a criminal case. Tennessee law provides the Attorney General with very narrow criminal prosecutorial authority, and within the scope of that authority he may only file charges if there is evidence sufficient to both establish his jurisdiction and prove every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The Attorney General does not speak for anybody else with respect to this matter. Under our constitutional system, every American is presumed innocent of a crime unless and until convicted."
Defense attorney Powers also noted in his motion that Skrmetti had suggested potential ethical issues associated with the DA’s surveillance of defense attorneys.
Funk’s team argues that they and Powers read the letter differently.
“He points to Attorney General Skermetti’s [sic] closure letter as proof the DA’s Office acted unethically,” Funk’s response states. “The State points to the same letter as proof the DA’s Office acted ethically.”
Funk's motion claims that Powers alleges that deputies Moore and Hunter "are corrupt and unethical lawyers." The motion makes no such direct claim.
Criminal Court Judge Cynthia Chappell has set a Dec. 13 hearing on the defense motion in the Atchison case.
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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. 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. Watch the story here.
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. 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.
Oct. 2, 2024: A Nashville murder case scheduled to go to trial next week has been placed on hold amid concerns that District Attorney General Glenn Funk's office illegally eavesdropped on the defense team as they reviewed evidence in the case. This is why defense attorneys are concerned.
Oct. 3, 2024: 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. Click here for more about the judge's ruling.
Oct. 3, 2024: Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk, responding to allegations of his office eavesdropping on defense attorneys, says a recently released state investigative report is “filled with inaccuracies and misleading innuendo.” Read more here.
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com
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