Potter trial set to get underway
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Jury selection will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Warren County Courthouse before Special Judge Steve Daniel of Murfreesboro. The case will go to trial after a jury and its alternates are chosen. The trial is expected to last three days or more as prosecutors have subpoenaed over 40 witnesses for the state.
Potter is charged with inappropriate conduct regarding the child support case of Samantha Salamone. Investigators say Potter refused to re-open Salamone’s case, which involved child support payments for her two young children, until she wrote a letter to the editor of the Southern Standard, painting his office in a favorable light. Weeks before, Salamone’s mother had written a letter to the editor, criticizing Potter’s child support division.
Potter was reportedly captured on audio tape, telling Salamone her case would be opened when her letter ran in the paper. The tape was passed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation which initiated an investigation of Potter. However, State Attorney General Paul Summers chose not to seek criminal charges against Potter after reviewing the TBI’s investigative files.
After being rebuffed by the state, Salamone took her case directly before the Warren County grand jury and obtained indictments against Potter. However, the defense maintained the indictments were rendered illegally because Grand Jury Foreman Gerry (Hoot) Gipson had an ax to grind with Potter and because the local grand jury had no jurisdiction to bring such an indictment. An appeal of the original indictments led to a lengthy delay in the case until the court of appeals upheld the indictments.
Given potential problems with the original indictments, prosecutors went back to the grand jury and this time used a special grand jury foreman. They once again obtained indictments, which are the indictments Potter now faces.
The Myers Lane triple murder trials and subsequent conflicts in attorney schedules produced more delays in trying the case. However, Daniel drew a line in the sand this spring, telling attorneys the case would go to trial on June 26 with no further delays.
The stakes will be high in the upcoming trial as Potter stands to lose his job and perhaps his law license if convicted. He could also potentially face jail time on the felony charges. A conviction would also bar him from holding elected office for 10 years.