MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said the office’s Special Victim's Unit (SVU) has reached a milestone.
During a news conference Wednesday, Aug. 21, Mulroy said so far for 2024, the unit has already reached the same number of jury trials held last year - 42.
Mulroy said the unit has brought 18 cases to trial in 2024, 15 of which resulted in convictions. He said those cases led to 511 years in total of sentencing, including a life sentence without parole.
Mulroy said the unit also brought in 12 guilty verdicts in various felony cases, resulting in a total of 207 years of sentencing.
Mulroy said the number of jury trials they've done so far this year is not the be all and end all measurement of the unit's success. Instead, he said it’s how they are resolved.
"I'm agnostic as to whether we resolve a case through a guilty plea, a settlement or a trial as long as that settlement is a fair settlement,” said Mulroy. “But I do think it is indicative of the faster pace that we've managed to achieve, the speedier justice efforts we've been working on."
SVU handles the more challenging and serious cases in the D.A.'s office. It specializes in cases dealing with the city's most vulnerable citizens, from children to the elderly.