Memphis prosecutor who charged Black woman over voting error loses re-election bid

The prosecutor who brought charges against a black woman for trying to register to vote lost her re- election bid.

Key primaries were won by Republican candidates who denied the election results.

Steve Mulroy, a law professor at the University of Memphis and a former county commissioner, defeated the district attorney general.

Criminal justice reform advocates had pressured her office over its use of cash bail and its decision to try juvenile offenders as adults.

A criminal conviction and six-year prison sentence for a woman who tried to get her right to vote restored was trumpeted earlier this year by a man. The rules for restoring voting rights in Tennessee are very confusing, and that is what led to the charges againstMoses. She was accused of deceiving the officer into signing off.

After the trial, the Guardian published a document showing that the Tennessee Department ofCorrections had investigated the error and made no mention of deception. The department pointed the finger at the officer. A judge ordered a new trial after the document was not turned over to the defense before the trial. The department of corrections didn't give her office the document that caused the mistake.

It wasn't the first time that Weirich had come under fire for failing to give evidence to a client, as a study found her office had more instances of misconduct than any prosecutor in the state. She was reprimanded by the Tennessee board of professional responsibility for casting aspersions on a client's decision not to testify.