Dunavant asks for special prosecutor

Published Tuesday, April 8
By Jeff York
For the Daily Corinthian

SELMER, Tenn. -- District Attorney Michael Dunavant has filed a motion that a request for dismissal of an indictment and his disqualification from the case against Troy Critchley be denied by the judge.

General Dunavant also made a request to the executive director of Tennessee's DA General Conference to have another DA from another district to act as a special prosecutor. This prosecutor would conduct a review of the investigation and grand jury proceedings in the case against Critchley.

The motions filed in this case will be heard by McNairy County Circuit Court Judge Weber McCraw in a special hearing on Aug. 15. Critchley's attorney, Robert Hutton, had previously filed a motion to have Dunavant disqualified from the case because of prosecutiorial misconduct and that charges against Critchley be dismissed.

Dunavant's motion filed in McNairy County Circuit Court said Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said he participated in the crash investigation during a bond hearing for Critchley. The motion said Burks admitted under cross-examination that he did not participate in the crash and criminal investigation.

Tennessee Highway Patrol's Critical Incident Response Team and Criminal Investigation Division performed the investigation of the tragic accident that saw six people die and 22 others injured on June 16, 2007.

Dunvant's response stated the Court and defense counsel had been told there was a possibility Chief Burks and other Selmer city officials could be indicted later for criminal responsibility related to the charges againstCritchley.

The DA admitted in his motion that he expressed to Selmer PD Investigator Roger Rickman his offense, frustration and displeasure at the misleadingnature of Burks' testimony. General Dunavant denied he asked Rickman to relay the statements to Burks. Dunavant's motion denies Critchley has been denied his right to due process or to present witnesses on his behalf. The DA contends that the facts in this case can be easily distinguished from the law cited by Critchley to allege his due process rights have been infringed by Dunavant's statements to Rickman.

The motion said Dunavant's statements to Rickman were not made to threaten Chief Burks due to his testimony at Critchley's bond hearing.

"Dunavant's statements were criticism and frustration made immediately after a hearing in which a chief law enforcement officer testified in a misleading, uninformed and unprofessional way," according to the motion.

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