The Ethical Campaign on Dec. 15 at the Tennessee Bar Center is an advanced level program for state and local lawmakers, judges and candidates for executive, judicial or legislative positions. The program will include ethical issues involved in compliance with election law provisions required by the ethics rules, compliance with campaign finance practices and conformity with the “Comprehensive Governmental Ethics Reform Act.” The course, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. – noon, is approved for three CLE credits.

The deadline to reserve TBA discounted rooms for the annual CLE Ski is Dec. 17. CLE Ski will be held from Jan. 17-22 at Vail Cascade Resort and Spa in Colorado. Join practitioners from across the state for 15 hours of CLE and ski time. Topics this year include commercial law and bankruptcy, labor law update and employment law update.

Nashville Assistant District Attorney Kyle Anderson received the Tennessee Excellence Award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work on DUI cases. The award is given to the top regional prosecutor who demonstrates outstanding commitment to enforcing DUI law and for supporting local volunteers’ victim-advocacy efforts. Anderson, a former metro police officer, leads the D.A.’s Vehicular Crimes Unit.

An item in Tuesday’s issue of TBA Today incorrectly identified the location of the law office where former U.S. Attorney William Killian will be working. Killian will join the Chattanooga office of the Polsinelli firm, working in Government Investigations and Compliance-Civil and Criminal Practice.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office in Nashville has a full or half summer internship available. Law students who have completed at least four semesters of law school at the start of the program will be paid $16 an hour. No monetary compensation is available for law students who have completed fewer than four semesters, but pro bono credit and school credit are available. Read more on the application process or contact Ruth Thompson for more information at 615-253-4509.

The FBI will overhaul its system for counting the number of deaths caused by police officers in the United States, The Guardian reports. The new system, which will remain voluntary, will publish a wider range of data including information about deadly encounters involving the use of Tasers and fatal shootings.

Eleventh Judicial District Attorney Neal Pinkston is creating a committee to review recently discovered unanalyzed evidence from murders that occurred between 1986 and 2002, The Times Free Press reports. "An initial review of the 1986-1988 autopsy files revealed 35 cases with unanalyzed evidence," according to Pinkston's office. "Of those, 13 are suicides or accidental deaths, two are cold-case murders and the remaining 20 are homicides that have presumably been prosecuted." The unprocessed evidence includes bullets removed from bodies, hair and DNA swabs.

A mistrial was declared today on day five of a Blount County homicide and arson trial, The Daily Times reports. Circuit Court Judge Tammy Harrington, citing multiple prosecutorial mistakes, said she had no choice but to stop the trial. "This was not a decision that was made lightly, and it is with extreme frustration that we did not get this case concluded properly," Harrington said. 

The Chattanoogan reports a vehicular homicide trial in Chattanooga was rescheduled for this morning after three panels of jurors were mistakenly sent home on Tuesday. Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman apologized for the error. "I'm disappointed that we were not able to start today. The state was ready and the defense was ready. It's not anybody's fault in this court,” he said.

Shelby County Chancellor James R. Newsom III ruled Tuesday that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's (TBI) report about the death of Darrius Stewart can be released to the public, The Memphis Flyer reports. Newsom stayed the order until Dec. 15 to give Memphis police officer Connor Schilling, who shot and killed Stewart in July, time to appeal. Attorneys for Stewart requested in November a special attorney to review the TBI's report.