Re: Letter to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the matter of Andrew Thomas v. Bruce Westbrooks, Warden (Shelby County)

Our Office filed the attached letter with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to clarify an issue in the above case. It concerns a $750 payment made to a witness in a federal (not state) case by the federal government, not the State of Tennessee and not the District Attorney General in the case.

“The $750 payment to Ms. Jackson was made by the federal government without the knowledge of or involvement by District Attorney General Amy Weirich. The payment to Ms. Jackson was made three years prior to the state’s successful prosecution of Mr. Thomas for the murder of James Day. There has been no finding whatsoever that state prosecutors in this case had actual knowledge of the payment at the time of the state trial. The briefs in the case describe knowledge that may be imputed to a prosecuting office under a legal concept, but that is a far, far cry from actually knowing of or concealing a payment like this. Prosecuting these cases is never easy; our Office will continue to confidently work with General Weirich and her office,” Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III said.