Nashville-based Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) was named the 2023 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial champion Saturday night after two days of preliminary trial rounds. It was the school's second back-to-back win and sixth win overall. The school prevailed over Signal Mountain High School of Hamilton County. Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Usman presided over the round while members of the TBA YLD Executive Committee and TBA Board of Governors, including President Tasha Blakney, served as jurors. Earlier in the day, Farragut High School of Knoxville was awarded the 2023 Sportsmanship Award, the top 10 teams were announced, individual awards were presented to the best advocates and witnesses, and an MVP for each team was recognized. Special thanks to Mock Trial Committee Chair Judge Zack Walden, Vice Chair Ashley Tipton and members of the committee for organizing this year's event, which involved 14 teams, close to 200 participants and more than 100 volunteers, including sitting Tennessee judges, lawyers and law students. MBA will now represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Little Rock, Arkansas, in May. The team is coached by Nashville lawyers Wade Cowan and Tracy Hancock.

Memphis Police Department Lt. Dewayne Smith, a 25-year veteran, has been identified as the officer who retired before an administrative hearing into his involvement in the death of Tyre Nichols, reports the Daily Memphian. Smith served as a supervisor on the disbanded SCORPION unit that was responsible for the traffic stop of Nichols. The retirement before possible termination will allow Smith to retain his pension. Smith had been charged with neglect of duty, making unauthorized public statements and violating policy on the use of body cameras.

The Tennessean reports that just days before he was set to be sentenced in federal court, former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea in what prosecutors describe as a campaign finance conspiracy to benefit a failed U.S. Congress bid. Kelsey pleaded guilty to two federal corruption charges in November, but the former lawmaker now says through court filings that personal stress compounded with a 48-hour deadline to accept a plea agreement led him to take the deal with an "unsure heart and confused mind." Kelsey is also seeking court permission to file a motion to dismiss the charges he previously pleaded guilty to "because he pleaded guilty to something that is not a crime," his legal team argues in court documents.

The Tennessee Lookout reports that the RAND Corporation has released a 600-page report on America’s response to the national opioid crisis. The report states that lawmakers should view the crisis through an “ecosystems” approach, meaning that they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement. The report encourages federal, state and local lawmakers to think “beyond traditional silos” and innovate ways to stem adverse effects of addiction and increasing drug overdose deaths among Americans.

Mayors of Shelby County, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga are calling on the legislature to pass a bill (HB1233/SB1029) that would impose penalties on gun owners who leave firearms in cars irresponsibly. It also would require owners to report the theft — which has resulted in a decrease in illegal gun movement in other states that require it. The bill makes it a misdemeanor criminal penalty for failing to safely store a gun or for failing to report a stolen gun to law enforcement.

The American Bar Association (ABA) announced today that it has begun a nationwide search for a new executive director. The ABA executive director oversees a staff of more than 1,000 and a consolidated budget of approximately $220 million. The executive director is responsible for membership and non-dues revenues programs, directs implementation of the ABA’s strategic goals and has responsibility for programs and activities adopted by the ABA’s governing and policymaking bodies, the Board of Governors and the House of Delegates. The ABA Executive Director Search Committee is seeking candidates with at least 10 to 15 years of relevant executive leadership experience and a successful track record of effective organizational leadership for a large, complex organization. An advanced degree (J.D., MBA or other relevant degree) is preferred. The ABA is headquartered in Chicago, with another office in Washington, D.C., and significant operations in Texas and California. 

TBA Vice President Ed Lanquist attended the American Bar Association's Bar Leadership Institute (BLI) in Chicago this week. The BLI is intended to guide bar leaders in their roles as stewards of their organizations. Programming focuses on bar governance, communication and leadership — all with an eye toward what's going on in our communities and our world today. 

An investigation by The Marshall Project and The Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis found incidents of aggressive policing throughout the ranks of the 1,900-member Memphis Police Department, according to an article published in the Commercial Appeal. A review of more than 200 arrest reports from spring of last year shows that rank-and-file officers, as well as SCORPION members, used overzealous methods in their encounters. With regards to the SCORPION unit in particular, ABC24 in Memphis reports that the district attorney’s office is reviewing past cases involving the unit, which was dissolved after Tyre Nichols’ death. Several attorneys say they have had cases dismissed or plea offers made because of the unstable credibility of officers in that unit. "You cannot possibly put any of these officers on the stand to testify about arrests they made," Murray Wells of Wells & Associates said.

The Daily Memphian reports that officials are working to increase transparency about juvenile crimes as the nature of those crimes becomes more serious. However, state laws restrict what information is allowed to be shared with the public in an effort to shield juveniles from the same level of public scrutiny that adult criminals receive as efforts to rehabilitate those youths are in progress. Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon says the court is “transparent to the extent we are allowed to (be) ethically and statutorily.” He also stresses that protecting juveniles as they go through rehabilitation is paramount to their recovery. Officials are moving to establish online “dashboards” that will provide more information, or as much permitted by law, to anyone seeking it.

Tennessee’s Public Defender Social Worker program pairs defendants who cannot afford a lawyer with social workers to help address underlying issues like poverty, addiction or homelessness, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is praising the program as a model for other states. “The criminal justice system is just not designed to help people who have mental health issues,” says Rachel Rossi, the director of the Office for Access to Justice at the DOJ. “And what bringing a social worker into the conversation does is it really allows us to get to the actual core of the issue and to actually heal and help and provide resources and support so that a person is not just cycling in and out of jail over and over and over.” WPLN has the story.