MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Some Shelby County criminal cases were at a standstill Friday, after the District Attorney General’s Office asked a judge be pulled from her cases.
It’s a story WREG has been following for the past week.
Judge Carolyn Blackett has been asked to recuse herself from about 200 cases in her courtroom.
Case after case got continued Friday.
Defense attorneys explained off-camera that that was just about all Judge Blackett can do while the D.A.’s motion is pending.
This week, Defense Attorney Michael Working filed a motion asking that Blackett not have to be recused from her cases. Instead, the motion called for the recusal of the D.A.’s Office for accessing reportedly confidential information.
This all stemmed from an attempted murder case involving Michael Halliburton, a Collierville teacher who was found guilty earlier this year of beating his wife.
Blackett agreed to grant Halliburton a new trial.
One of the prosecutors pressed Blackett about her ruling and the D.A.’s Office said things have been contentious between the two sides since then.
The D.A.’s Office claimed the judge suggested she might call the Justice Department on them, which led prosecutors to question her impartiality.
No one’s sure about what that means for productivity in Blackett’s criminal court until there has been a resolution.
Halliburton was sentenced earlier this week to serve 21 years in prison.
WREG requested to meet with Weirich Friday to ask about the hold-up in the legal proceedings, but a spokesperson said she was away from the office.
Working was also out of town.
WREG spoke with Judge Blackett’s attorney Friday evening.
Ted Hansom said Blackett will rule on the recusal sometime “early next week.”
After that point, parties can appeal.
Those parties include the D.A.’s Office or people whose cases are affected.
