DA PROMISES ANSWERS IN WRONG-ARREST CASE

District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn pledged Thursday he would look
into how a Seymour man wound up wrongly charged with trafficking in
drugs.

James Russell Kitts was arrested June 25 after U.S. Marshals and
Sevier County deputies served a warrant based on a presentment issued
in January.

The information in that presentment - an indictment issued in secret
by a Grand Jury that and sealed until the suspect is arrested - came
from the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force, according to officials.

Director Mack Smith signed a request for extradition for Kitts May 5,
according to records provided The Mountain Press. A spokesperson for
the task force referred questions concerning the matter to Dunn.

"We can certainly come up with an idea of why it happened and how it
happened and see to it that it doesn't happen again," Dunn said.

Attorney Bryan Delius, who represents Kitts, said Wednesday he had not
been able to speak to the task force about that. Dunn said he would
contact Delius himself.

Dunn said the matter came to his attention after assistant district
attorney Steve Hawkins was approached by an agent of the drug task
force,.

"Steve came to me just after that man was arrested and said it looks
like we have a problem, one of the agents tells me we can't prove this
is the guy beyond a reasonable doubt," Dunn said. "I said dismiss it.
We don't guess people into prison."