DA Mulroy’s office responds after Tennessee senator speaks out again on bond hearing decision
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Tennessee state senator is speaking out again against Shelby County General Sessions Judge Bill Anderson and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy.
Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) released courtroom audio of the hearing where Anderson released a man accused of shooting his co-worker at the FedEx World Hub last month on his own recognizance.
Taylor’s take on Judge Anderson releasing people accused of serious violent crimes is no secret.
Taking to the social media platform X, Taylor said he got his hands on audio of the hearing where Judge Anderson released accused gunman and 18-year-old Tyreese Earnest from jail on his own recognizance.
“You have an opportunity to do something with your life. You got to wake up, you put yourself in a tough position, but anything in the world you have to do, whether it be here, where you are or wherever it is, you have a chance to become a real man,” Anderson told Tyreese Earnest, according to the audio recording.
According to investigators, Earnest and two others are accused of ambushing a coworker when he got to his vehicle in the FedEx Hub Employee parking lot last month.
“I’m going to give you a chance to get your act together. But I’m going to watch you like a hawk in every court hearing. I’m going to have in the courtroom this week after what you had done, the fact that I know if I see one negative, one negative, he didn’t call it anything like you supposed to,” Anderson told Earnest, according to the audio.
Investigators identified Earnest as the shooter from surveillance video.
A judicial commissioner set bail for Earnest at $200,000. That bail was later erased to nothing after Judge Anderson reviewed the case and decided to release Earnest on his own recognizance.
In his post, Taylor called out Mulroy for failing to not aggressively argue for a high bond for Earnest.
FOX13 reached out to the DA’s office about the authenticity of the recording.
A spokesperson confirmed it is real but incomplete. The statement said the recording was delayed and much of the prosecution’s argument is not captured.
The DA’s statement is below:
“While the audio is authentic, it is incomplete, and failing to acknowledge that is highly misleading.
Here’s what happened: During the bail hearing, the prosecutor argued against the ROR and advocated for maintaining the bond. She specifically cited: the violent nature of the crime, the potential loss of life, the strength of the case, and the risk of flight. Unfortunately, a delay in activating the court recorder — an occasional issue in General Sessions Court, which is not a court of record — resulted in much of the argument not being captured. This context is important to clarify.
The prosecutor is a seasoned attorney with over a decade of military prosecutorial experience. It is disappointing that narratives are being formed without consulting our office, as this undermines the work of our more than 100+ prosecutors who do this work every day. Misrepresenting their efforts is a disservice to the community.”
Anderson also released on their own recognizance, also known as ROR, the other two suspects connected to the shooting: twin brothers Jamarcus and Jamarion Odell.
All three were given rules that must be followed or they return to jail with their bail doubled.
“I only need one thing and you’re going right back. And this time that you have now, it’s going away. It’s going to be doubled. So it’s going to be $400,000 if you don’t follow the rules. I don’t know what this case is about yet, but I also realize when this case comes up for hearing, it continues to make no sense to me,” Anderson told Tyreese Earnest in audio recording.
Below are some of the posts Sen. Taylor made Saturday on the social media platform X:
“I have obtained the audio (link in comments) for the hearing where so-called Judge Anderson unacceptably granted a ROR to dangerous criminal Tyreese Earnest. Frankly, this whole bond hearing involving Judge Anderson and DA Mulroy’s office (expletive) me off! It highlights what is so wrong with our justice system in Shelby County.
I recommend turning on alerts for my social media posts as I will be posting a series of informative explanations on what went wrong in this hearing. I know this hearing is long, but I also recommend listening to it for yourself to assess whether what the DA’s office is saying occurred actually happened. This grave injustice is made worse by misrepresentations from DA Mulroy, and the public should be outraged by his disingenuousness.
In today’s post, I’d like to address the Assistant District Attorney’s failure to aggressively argue for a high bond to protect our community. Despite DA Mulroy stating “the DA’s office opposed lower bond and ROR”, the ADA in this case was as weak as a kitten’s meow. I never heard the Assistant District Attorney ask for a high cash bail and was not nearly forceful enough in fighting for bail. The ADA would have been just as effective sitting in the audience watching the proceeding as a spectator. Please don’t take my word for it, listen for yourself!
I do not know what it will take for DA Mulroy to stop hiring defense attorneys, public defenders, and kids right out of law school as prosecutors and instead hire and train aggressive prosecutors! Our public and crime victims need aggressive prosecutors and not progressive prosecutors.
At this time I don’t know who the ADA was at the hearing, but what we can hear is very different than what DA Mulroy presented to the public. Shelby County has a Judge Anderson and DA Mulroy problem. This lack of honesty from our community’s top prosecutor is unacceptable, and I am madder than a mosquito at a wax museum about it.
To Make Memphis Matter, we need a well-trained and aggressive team of attorneys fighting for our community’s safety in the DA’s office. Unfortunately, it appears we have Restorative Justice Schemers like Decarcerate Memphis and Just City running our criminal justice system. I plan to change that!”
FOX13 reached out to Mulroy’s office on Saturday following Sen. Taylor’s social media posts and his office issued the following the statement:
“At the Tyrese Earnest bail hearing, the prosecutor clearly argued for keeping the bond amount the same and against any ROR. Unfortunately, the court failed to record the majority of the state’s argument at the hearing’s very beginning. This happens on occasion because General Sessions is not a court of record, and court staff must turn the recorder on, which sometimes includes a lag. Nonetheless, the ADA, a veteran with over a decade of experience as a military prosecutor, noted the violent nature of the crime; the fact that someone could have died; the strength of the prosecution’s case; the serious prison time the defendant was facing; and thus the significant risk of flight, all of which counseled against ROR. Had the senator taken the time to consult with us before making his public statement, we could have explained this to him. People without courtroom experience can confuse a professional tone with a lack of passion. Lawyers know that, unlike on TV, a vociferous argument can sometimes be counterproductive.
Bottom line: There is no stronger response to a bail decision than a writ to appeal it, which we began drafting immediately. Senator Taylor’s criticism of our office’s advocacy is ill-informed and unfair.”
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