March 23, 2015 – Assistant DA Jan Norman Shares Thoughts on Vanderbilt Rape Case
During January’s Vanderbilt rape trial, the spotlight was not only on the defendants but also the legal teams trying the case.
Among them was one woman, Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman, who became a prosecutor after discovering her career in sales wasn’t her true passion. Norman shared her thoughts with News 2 on the high-profile case that gained national attention.
“I did have random people come up and say they saw me on TV,” she recalled. But for Norman, her focus was not on the cameras; it was on the jury and victim whose statement the she read with emotion at the end of the trial.
“As I was reading it, I was thinking of her and her speaking those words which made it that much more meaningful to me,” Norman explained.
Norman, a Brentwood native who graduated from Belmont University with a marketing degree, said after working a few years in sales she felt unfulfilled and decided to make a career change.“I think going late in life and having some work experience and life experience definitely helped,” she said. While in law school, Norman interned with the Davidson County DA’s office.
“I knew 100 percent this is what I wanted to do,” she said. Since the end of the Vanderbilt trial, Norman said rape victims have reached out to her. “I get phone calls from rape victims, letters saying they were encouraged and inspired by it,” Norman said. Norman also said her position is her dream job, and she has no plans of leaving it anytime soon.