NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There was a time while working on this story when we focused mainly on the numbers and how Davidson County's grand jury got to where it is today.
It wasn't until we met Theeda Murphy, that we saw the need to pivot to the people's perspective.
During an interview with NewsChannel 5 Investigates in June, Murphy stood outside the Historic Metro Courthouse and reflected on the many times she's voiced her passion and advocacy for abolition on its steps—but never truly felt heard.
"Many times I've stood on that courthouse step with a sign yelling, falling on deaf ears," she said.
Murphy said she became more optimistic in January, when she was selected to serve as grand jury foreperson.
A member of a grand jury is a regular citizen who is selected for jury duty, with likely little to no law experience, yet is asked to decide one of the court's most important questions: If evidence presented by prosecutors or Metro Nashville Police contains enough probable cause to pursue a case to trial.
A foreperson is responsible for facilitating conversations within the grand jury.
As the leader of Abolition Works Tennessee, a group focused on "dismantling all systems based on incarceration and replacing them with institutions based on care and equity," Murphy explained that to her, serving on a grand jury is one of the most important civic duties a citizen can perform.
“The people who were on the jury with me were excited about being able to do that and give people a chance to resolve the issue outside of court,” Murphy said.
This year, Murphy marks the second time she's served as foreperson, which has become one of the most controversial grand jury sessions Davidson County has seen in years, as many question the independence and power held by a group essentially operating in secrecy.
Two times a week, three months at a time, four times out of the year, the grand jury evaluates the evidence provided and rules either “true bill” or “no true bill."
If the ruling is "true bill," the grand jury has decided there is enough probable cause for a case to proceed.
If the ruling is "no true bill," the grand jury has decided there's not enough evidence to proceed.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates collected court data from Davidson County and found that between 2020 and the beginning of 2025, there were less than 70 no true bill decisions.
So, you can imagine why eyebrows were raised when Murphy’s final grand jury report had 47 no true bills in her single 2025 session alone.
That's the most by percentage we could find in 25 years and far more than the seven no true bills in the succeeding grand jury session.
“They don’t need to show much other than probable cause, right?” we asked Murphy.
"Right, and that's our point. You don't need to show much, but for some of them, don't be complacent. Don't just assume that the grand jury is going to accept any mess that you throw together the night before," Murphy said.
While Murphy acknowledged that some officers were well prepared when presenting to the grand jury, she said it felt as if others took the grand jury and the legal process for granted.
“They assume that they can come in there and get those people to say whatever they want, and the grand jury is not a rubber stamp. The grand jury is independent, and the folks in the grand jury with me took that seriously,” Murphy said.
We reached out to Metro Police in regards to Murphy’s claims.
In response, MNPD pointed out that oftentimes, officers present cases that are rejected, only to re-present the cases again and return true bills.
The department said all other questions would have to be directed to the District Attorney’s office and the most recent grand jury foreperson.
As Murphy has facilitated conversations between jurors, who all have to agree on whether or not to return an indictment, she has been faced with fierce criticism.
Some people have questioned, given Murphy's advocacy work, if she may have bias tendencies as a foreperson, which could be a driving force behind a runaway grand jury.
“You prefer an independent grand jury,” we asked Murphy.
“Yes. What we did is remind them that the grand jury is truly independent,” Murphy replied.
Former Nashville district attorney turned Belmont University law professor, Torry Johnson, spent 26 years presenting cases to the grand jury and agrees that there’s no expectation that jurors need to leave their bias at the door.
“They don’t answer to the judge. They don’t answer to the prosecutor, and it’s up to them to make decisions,” Johnson said.
Johnson remembers only one other time when he had as many no true bills in one session, but says it’s important to remember that prosecutors can simply wait and resubmit certain cases in front of another grand jury.
“Do you think that defeats the purpose if they can take the same case and present it to a different grand jury?” we asked.
“I don’t think so. If it takes you presenting to three, four, or five different grand juries, that might be a different matter,” Johnson said.
Of the 47 no true bills in Murphy’s grand jury, 43 were resubmitted and later reversed into indictments in the following grand jury.
“The idea is that it’s to be impartial, but there’s no question that a grand jury often led by the foreperson can have areas or types of crimes that they’re not as interested in, that other grand juries would be,” Johnson said.
The grand jury can review any number of areas in our criminal justice system.
In this case, Murphy and other jurors chose to review a controversial 61-page whistleblower’s complaint from last year detailing years of misconduct within Metro Nashville Police.
Former and current officers were called to testify about sexual misconduct, systemic bias, and discrimination, some said they experienced firsthand.
“How can you ignore that? Consistency across decades,” Murphy said.
The grand jury concluded that, “We feel that there is evidence of criminal and civil violations which should be investigated.”
The rest of the report included a series of recommendations, including hiring a special prosecutor to investigate these claims, as well as inviting more witnesses who aren’t always law enforcement to give their side of the story.
“Are we trying to change the look of our process?” we asked.
“Yes, we are. The whole process of grand jury is like a microcosm of Nashville and the microcosm of community, and if we can come to an agreement that we can all live with, that shows that maybe we can do it out here,” Murphy responded.
The truth is, much of this process could remain a mystery.
What you’ve seen on TV is one thing, but no one can predict what one grand jury will do over another.
If uncertainty means less complacency, then Murphy says they’ve done their job.
“If grand juries act independently with their full power of having oversight over the entire local government, then you would see people held accountable in ways they’re not used to and maybe don’t like,” Murphy said.
