The top prosecutor in Memphis, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich, announced she has accepted a private reprimand in a murder case, and professional misconduct charges have been dropped ahead of a disciplinary hearing that was scheduled to begin Thursday, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. “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 Noura Jackson’s second-degree murder conviction in the death of her mother, Jennifer Jackson. Noura Jackson entered a plea on a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter in 2015. She was released from prison last August and has maintained that she’s innocent. Weirich said, “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.” Jackson released a statement through her attorney saying the ending to the case was “surreal beyond belief.” She added that, “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.”