TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Oct 21, 2022

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins this week heard arguments in a lawsuit against the city of Memphis for negligence, stemming from the 2014 discovery of 12,000 untested rape kits, the Daily Memphian reports. Higgins heard from attorneys representing a group of rape victims yesterday who want to certify a class of claimants to make the case a class-action suit. Attorneys for the city filed for summary judgement. The hearings resumed today, where the city argued that testimony from retired Memphis Police Department detective Cody Wilkerson should be excluded because it is “irrelevant” and fails to meet several technical legal grounds. Wilkerson contends that incompetence and indifference led his former colleagues to close hundreds — possibly thousands — of rape cases without proper investigation. Higgins indicated she may rule within two weeks on a variety of motions.