One of Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy’s campaign promises will be fulfilled Feb. 15 when a 24-hour bail hearing room is up and operational.

“We’re already … getting ready to do training on this,” Mulroy said on WKNO’s Behind the Headlines. “We don’t know about everybody else, but we will be ready on February 15 to implement the new system.”

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In addition to advocating for bail reform, Mulroy’s office has launched a Justice Review Unit; is working on juvenile reforms alongside newly elected Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon; and has issued guidelines to make it more difficult for assistant district attorneys to settle nonfatal shootings, all of which he discussed on this week’s show.

“Behind The Headlines,” hosted by Eric Barnes, CEO of The Daily Memphian, airs on WKNO Fridays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Watch the show now via the video link in this story or listen to the podcast version that includes extended conversation not in the television show.

Bail hearing to be guaranteed within three days

The bail hearing room is a result of a court order that came from a compromise. It followed the American Civil Liberties Union and local advocacy groups threatening to sue Shelby County government for its bail and pretrial detention practices.

As part of the court order, defendants will be guaranteed a full bail hearing within three days, where a magistrate will take a detailed look at their offense, their potential criminal history, their ties to the community and their finances.

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It will be up to the prosecution to prove whether a defendant is a flight risk or a danger to the community and therefore should not be granted pretrial release. The judicial magistrates will determine whether a defendant gets pretrial release, has an affordable bail set, or is given an unaffordable bail that keeps them in jail pending trial.

Mulroy said the former bail system was two-tiered and led to racial disparities. One out of every four people is in jail at 201 Poplar for more than 500 days, he said. 

“The longer you are there, the more likely you are to be African American,” Mulroy said. “It is not a good system. And a significant percentage of those people will ultimately be released without a conviction. But by then, it’s too late. You’ve ruined their lives. If you take somebody and … keep them away from their job, their education, their family or community for 10, 12, 16 months, and then say, ‘OK, never mind, you can go back,’ it’s too late.”

According to Mulroy, wealthier individuals benefit more from the current bail system than impoverished people do, in a city where the median income is about $25,000.

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“People with means are able to be out and continue to work … their jobs, be with their families, during the sometimes very lengthy process of coming to trial, while people who are poor have to languish at 201 Poplar,” Mulroy said.

Mulroy said Shelby County is the worst in Tennessee regarding the number of people who sit behind bars for 18 months or longer. 

A September report by The Daily Memphian found only 32 trials had been completed thus far in 2022, while there were 465 pending. 

Mulroy said there was only so much the DA’s office could do to address the backlog. One thing he did was issue new guidelines to make it more difficult for assistant district attorneys to settle nonfatal shootings. 

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Nonfatal shootings may get dismissed or settled because witnesses fail to appear. Now ADAs will have to get higher-up approval to settle those cases. 

“We know that a small percentage of repeat violent offenders are responsible for a large percentage of the violent crimes and the people that are doing nonfatal shootings nowadays are going to be homicide defendants later on,” Mulroy said. 

Mulroy also gave ADAs more discretion to settle nonviolent cases, and he restructured the way cases are assigned.

Mulroy is keeping the vertical prosecution model, which was originally launched during former DA Amy Weirich’s administration. It assigns prosecutors to the same cases as they move from Shelby County General Sessions Courts to Shelby County Criminal Courts. 

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But he’s gotten rid of the Special Prosecution Unit, which sends repeat violent offenders to Shelby County Criminal Court Divisions VII and VIII. 

“The problem there is that we had a lot of very, very experienced prosecutors who were concentrated in those areas,” Mulroy said. “And then other divisions had gaps in levels of experience. There were also some morale issues. There were some concerns about forum shopping, whether we were sending the cases we care about to certain judges. I’m not saying that was valid, but I’m just saying there were perceptions.”

Juvenile crime comes under focus

Mulroy and Judge Tarik Sugarmon both campaigned on reducing the number of juveniles transferred to adult court. So far, no juveniles have been transferred since Mulroy took office in September.

“I think our office has made some requests, but Judge Sugarmon has not granted them,” Mulroy said.

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Juvenile crimes range broadly and are pronounced in crimes involving cars, including auto theft and carjacking.

More 16-year-olds are responsible for the roughly 10,000 car thefts that have occurred in Memphis this year than any other age group.

Two juveniles, ages 15 and 16, are accused in the July 18 carjacking and slaying of Rev. Autura Eason-Williams. They have been reporting to juvenile court each month since they were arrested, leaving many to wonder whether they would be transferred.

They are set for a transfer hearing Jan. 20, where a determination will be made as to whether or not they will be tried in adult court. 

Mulroy said his external transition team’s working group is developing policy recommendations for adult transfer. He hopes intervention strategies, rehabilitation and training programs will help keep juveniles from reoffending. 

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“I think that the number of adult transfers and requests for adult transfer will never be zero, but there are always going to be those extreme cases, violent cases, where there’s a long criminal history where transfer is appropriate,” Mulroy said. “But I do think there will be markedly less transfers in the new administration compared to the old.”

Mulroy and Sugarmon also have discussed the desire to implement blended sentencing, which has bipartisan support, including from former Republican DAs Weirich and Bill Gibbons.

Currently, juveniles are either transferred to adult court or they stay in juvenile court until their 19th birthday, when the court relinquishes jurisdiction. Blended sentencing would see them stay in the juvenile system a few years past the age of 19.

Mulroy said it would take passing legislation during the next General Assembly to make it happen.

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“I think this idea of having this middle-ground approach, getting away from these extremes, either we let them out at age 19, or we send them off to adult prison where they basically learn how to be career criminals — there’s got to be a different approach in the middle,” Mulroy said. “And I’m hopeful we’ll get there maybe next year or the year after.”

Nonviolent crime needs restorative approach

Mulroy has said he wants to focus on violent crime. When asked about recent instances of group theft, he said he believes nonviolent offenses could be addressed using alternatives, such as restorative justice, instead of harsh jail or prison time. Restorative justice is where a meeting is organized between the victim and the offender, and sometimes with representatives of the wider community.

Group theft was on display Sunday, Nov. 20: 22 suspects entered a Walmart in Whitehaven through a broken window and stole about $8,000 in merchandise. The same night, a group of suspects broke into Valid Kixx and stole $100,000 worth of Nike shoes and toys.

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“When you’ve got a repeat pattern like that, and you’re talking about lots of damage, well, obviously, we need to take that seriously,” Mulroy said. “When I say prioritize violent crime, I’m not saying we’re no longer going to prosecute any nonviolent crime, obviously, in situations like that. We’ve got to take that seriously. I do say, though, that we ought to be thinking more about exploring restorative justice techniques, which have worked well in other jurisdictions.”

Deprioritizing nonviolent drug possession ‘goes double for marijuana’

Before the midterm elections Nov. 8, Mulroy urged Arkansans to vote for Issue 4 on the ballot, which would have legalized recreational cannabis. The issue failed, with 56% of Arkansans voting no.

However, medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 2016, while Tennessee, which has only legalized hemp containing .3% of THC, may very well be the “last state standing,” according to some experts. 

“I have told my staff that we’re going to deprioritize nonviolent drug possession, and that goes double for marijuana,” Mulroy said. “You know, I mean, I think Tennessee is clearly on the wrong side of history here.

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“I think, ultimately, we’re gonna see that marijuana is legalized completely, including recreational purposes throughout the country, and Tennessee will be last, probably.”