District Attorney Will Not Prosecute Rep. Kelsey For Text Message

By Kleinheider Posted on February 12, 2009 at 1:19 pm

From the Office of Torry Johnson:

On Wednesday, February 4, 2009, this office was asked to review the communication from Mr. Kelsey. The entirety of the fax was a line of a text from Kelsey to the assistant, reading “Tell Kent I’m willing to talk about reconciliation if he’s willing to talk about chairman of the full committee”.

Johnson says this appears to be more of a request than anything else. Tennessee’s extortion statute requires an element of coercion that is clearly not present in this instance.

“I don’t think the TBI needs to devote valuable time to investigate what appears to be an outgrowth of an internal political squabble that is best handled within the House of Representatives itself,” Johnson wrote to Speaker Williams.

The DA will also not prosecute in the case of Rep. Jim Cobb’s secret recording of staffer Paul Overholser stating that “due to the incomprehensible nature of the content on the tape, and the short amount of time the recorder was used, this case will not be pursued criminally.”

UPDATE: Rep. Kelsey released the following statement this afternoon referring all further questions to his attorney:

“I sincerely hope the Speaker and the Democratic Leader will join me in tackling the serious problems facing our state: people no longer feel safe in their own homes, and they are worried about keeping their jobs.”

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Tags: Brian Kelsey, District Attorney, Kent Williams, TBI, text message, Torry Johnson  

Are You Taking An Prescription Medication?

By Kleinheider Posted on June 10, 2008 at 7:22 am

The Jackson Sun reports the formation of a task force to battle prescription drug abuse:

The task force will provide support and training for law enforcement across the state to turn up the heat on people who illegally dispense, obtain or misuse prescription medications, according to a press release.

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Tags: dispense, drug abuse, Prescription Medication, task force, TBI