District attorney Amy Weirich takes reprimand in Noura Jackson case

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich on Monday announced she has accepted a private reprimand in the prosecution of Noura Jackson and professional misconduct charges have been dropped ahead of a disciplinary hearing that was scheduled to begin Thursday.

"As I have said from the beginning, an error was made," she said. "Human errors are going to be made. We touch over 200,000 cases every year."

The Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee charged that Weirich improperly commented on Jackson’s right to remain silent during a closing argument, and that as the lead prosecutor on the case, Weirich failed to review a witness statement that wasn't turned over to Jackson's lawyers until after the trial.

The Tennessee Supreme Court threw out Jackson's second-degree murder conviction in the death of her mother, Jennifer Jackson. Noura Jackson entered an Alford plea on a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter in 2015. She was released from prison last August and has maintained that she's innocent.

A prosecutor who assisted on the case, Steve Jones, was cleared by a panel of attorneys who heard his professional ethics case earlier this year. Jones said he received the statement during the trial, briefly reviewed it, put it in the flap of a notebook and forgot about it. He disclosed the mistake after the trial, and the panel of attorneys found that he did not intentionally fail to turn it over.

"It is indeed a testament to the integrity and professionalism of my office that we avoid trial errors at all cost and appreciate the panel's acknowledgment of the difference between mistakes of the mind and mistakes of the heart," Weirich said.

Weirich was joined by her husband and more than a dozen members of her staff at the press conference Monday announcing the end of the disciplinary matter.

"It has been a long and hard year for my family," she said.

Jackson released a statement Monday evening through her attorney saying the ending to the case was "surreal beyond belief."

"If Ms. Weirich is sincere and remorseful, she will have the opportunity to assist the Innocence Project as they request a review of the DNA evidence that points to an unknown suspect," she said.

Unknown DNA was found at the crime scene.

At Weirich's press conference, Weirich said her lawyer asked for the private reprimand over a year ago.

“To save my office and my family the distraction of a long, drawn out hearing, my attorney Jef Feibelman asked the board to issue a private reprimand, which admits an attorney error has occurred but as the American Bar Association says does not unnecessarily stigmatize a lawyer from whom the public needs no protection," she said. "The board’s decision was to move forward with the hearing, costing Steve Jones and myself a tremendous expense, both financially and personally."

She said the board informed them Monday that it will not appeal the ruling in the Jones matter and the private reprimand was agreed to in her case.