Anne Tompkins Nominated As Charlotte's Next U.S. Attorney

Charlotte Lawyer Nominated As U.S. Attorney


Charlotte lawyer Anne Tompkins put away a serial killer, dismantled drug trafficking rings and helped Iraqis prosecute Saddam Hussein.

Now, the 47-year-old former state and federal prosecutor has been nominated as Charlotte's next U.S. attorney.

President Obama announced the Christmas Eve nomination of Tompkins to head the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of North Carolina, the White House confirmed.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said Thursday morning, “Today, the President nominated a fine North Carolinian to serve our state as U.S. Attorney in the Western District.

“Anne Tompkins has extensive experience, including five years in the U.S. Attorney’s office, and was detailed to Baghdad to help prosecute Saddam Hussein. Anne is incredibly qualified for this important position, and I look forward to her swift confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”

Charlotte's new U.S. attorney will oversee more than 30 prosecutors in Charlotte and Asheville who prosecute everything from drug trafficking conspiracies, mail fraud and bank robberies to racketeering, carjackings and business fraud. The Western District of North Carolina stretches from Charlotte to the Tennessee border.

Tompkins has worked as a prosecutor under U.S. attorneys Mark Calloway, Bob Conrad and Gretchen Shappert.

"Anne is a natural leader," said Conrad, now a U.S. district judge. "She is decisive, visionary and able to get along with people from all walks of life. She will lead effectively from day one. ... When she talks, people will listen."

Tompkins, now a partner in a prestigious law firm, has prosecuted some of Charlotte's biggest cases.

She helped win death sentences in 1997 against serial killer Henry Louis Wallace for the murders of nine Charlotte women.

She also helped prosecute Fred Coffey, who was sentenced to life in prison for the 1979 murder of 10-year-old Amanda Ray, whose abduction and slaying horrified the city.

As a federal prosecutor, Tompkins supervised the U.S. attorney's office's violent crimes unit and led prosecutions of drug trafficking organizations. She handled everything from white collar and environmental crimes to a death penalty case.

In 2004, Tompkins went on an eight-month assignment in Iraq. She was part of a team of American lawyers who advised the tribunal that would prosecute Saddam.

Tompkins saw mass graves in the Iraqi desert littered with bones, flesh and clothing. She talked to Iraqis victimized by Saddam's regime.

Whenever she left the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, she packed a 9 mm pistol. In bed at night, she heard the mortar rounds exploding.

"The risks I take by living in Baghdad are made worth it by the possibility that we can bring justice to people who never thought they would see justice," she told the Observer at the time.

"It's the biggest thing I've ever done. This is a case involving international humanitarian law and the prosecution of the former leaders of Iraq. How much bigger can it get?"

Tompkins is now a partner in the law firm of Alston & Bird in Charlotte, where she focuses on white-collar criminal defense and internal corporate investigations.

She is listed in "The Best Lawyers in America" in 2008 and 2009 for white-collar criminal defense.

Mecklenburg District Attorney Peter Gilchrist called Tompkins "an exceptional choice" for Charlotte's U.S. attorney. "Anne is experienced. She's smart. She's got incredible people skills," Gilchrist said. "She understands and knows people. She's got great insight."

Charlotte lawyer Jim Cooney believes that Tompkins' service in Iraq is "an important window into her values."

"She volunteered for dangerous duty when she did not have to. She did it because she felt it was important," he said.

"I think that when she came back she appreciated the rule of law and its importance to our society even more and understood that power is best exercised with a great deal of humility - that is, an understanding of its limits."



View Larger Map


Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Google Maps