The Nashville District Attorney's office is under fire after being suspected of snooping on the defense team in a decades-old murder case, bringing the trial to a halt.
Calvin Atchison is charged with the first-degree murder of Velma Tharpe in June 2000—a case that garnered national attention after a wrongfully convicted man was exonerated.
The case was scheduled to go to trial next week but has now been placed on hold after allegations that DA General Glenn Funk's office illegally spied on the defense team while reviewing evidence pertaining to the case.
On Wednesday, Criminal Court Judge Cynthia Chappell agreed to postpone Atchison's trial following a motion the defense filed to disqualify Funk's team over recent accusations.
"It is a somewhat awkward position that the conduct of the DA's Office has placed me in," defense attorney Ben Powers wrote in the motion filed on Monday.
He goes on to state that any personal discomfort is far outweighed by his sworn duty to ethically represent his client.
"And the only way to do so is to hold my colleagues across the aisle accountable for the impropriety of their unethical tactics deployed against Mr. Atchison," said the DA.
The eavesdropping scandal was first exposed by News Channel 5 Investigates in February 2023, which promoted a raid by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents in March 2023.
Powers added that he and investigator Seth Carelli were required to come to the DA's offices in February 2023 to review evidence in the Atchison case, and they "were directed by assistant district attorneys to a specific room within their offices located on the third floor of the DA's office."
It was there that the two men were allegedly recorded by a "conspicuously placed audio recording device separate from the video system" in the room where they had inspected the evidence.
DA Glenn Funk was reportedly aware of the situation but insists that the defense attorneys had no expectation of privacy inside his offices.
"Unfortunately, the DA's Office has conducted itself in an unethically deceptive, disingenuous manner that strikes foul," Powers motion continued.
Prosecutors have yet to respond to the defense motion.
