Jesse Dalton

The company that runs Silverdale Detention Center has fired an employee who had been billed as Hamilton County's gang "expert" but who recently was accused of lying about her credentials during a high-profile gang-related murder trial last year.

A spokesman for Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America confirmed that officials terminated Christina Young's employment Tuesday after her failure to show up for work since June 1.

It wasn't until June 6 that the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on a defense attorney's court filings in which he accused Ms. Young, Silverdale's internal gang investigator at the time, of perjuring herself while testifying under oath at a May 2008 Hamilton County murder trial.

Defense attorney Jesse Dalton said Friday that Ms. Young knew well before June 1 about the perjury allegations since he had requested copies of her resume. At a June 5 court hearing that ultimately was rescheduled, Ms. Young did not show up despite being subpoenaed.

"We gave Ms. Young until June 15 to contact the facility so we could address the issue with her," CCA spokesman Steve Owen said Friday. "When she did not report to work on June 15, the company terminated her the next day."

Mr. Owen had said on Monday that the company didn't want to make any decisions regarding Ms. Young's employment until an "accurate and thorough" investigation was completed. He said her failure to return to work -- not the perjury allegations -- led to her dismissal.

Repeated attempts to contact Ms. Young have been unsuccessful.

Defense attorney Jesse Dalton accused Ms. Young of lying about her credentials on the stand during a murder trial that focused heavily on gang activity and in which she testified as a gang "expert."

According to trial transcripts, Ms. Young said during the May 2008 proceeding in which two young men were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison that she had an associate's degree in criminal justice. She testified in a separate murder trial just weeks later that she had to leave the Cleveland State Community College program because of a "high-risk pregnancy" and never completed the degree.

Another defense attorney, Robin Flores, since has petitioned Hamilton County Criminal Court for a new sentencing hearing for one of his clients, citing Ms. Young's testimony during the first sentencing hearing.

"Ms. Young made my client out to be more of a thug than he was," Mr. Flores said, noting what he called a "quasi-scientific" method that law enforcement uses to identify bonafide gang members. He said the fact that Ms. Young allegedly lied in another case probably would have no effect on his own client's circumstances, but that he "has a duty" to bring it to the court's attention.

Mr. Dalton conceded that had Ms. Young not "flat-out lied" about her credentials, she probably still would have been certified as a gang expert by the judge and her credibility unquestioned during the appeals process. Her on-the-job training in gang culture is not in dispute.

But Mr. Dalton said law enforcement officials especially are expected to be truthful about everything when testifying under oath. When they are not, he added, all the testimony of that officer is put into question and invariably can cast doubt on a case.

"If witnesses are willing to perjure themselves about one thing, there's no reason to believe they're not willing to perjure themselves about another thing," Mr. Dalton said Friday.

Ms. Young is expected to testify at a hearing Aug. 3 in which Mr. Dalton and another defense attorney, John McDougal, will petition the court for a new trial for their clients. They are expected to question Ms. Young about her testimony and cite other factors they say tainted the trial.