Famed-turned-disgraced ex-judge faces federal prison term
A once-famed Knox County judge who spent 19 years sending criminals to prison now faces his own stint behind bars.
View ArticleJack McElroy: Greenbelt exemption serves Tennessee's money belts
Greenbelt property tax exemptions are mostly a boondoggle, says News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy.
View ArticleReporter's notebook: Disgraced judge's counsel borrows from infamous...
Both the beginning and the end of defense attorney Donald A. Bosch's impassioned speech to jurors in U.S. District Court were, except the occasional changed wording, a carbon copy of those offered up...
View ArticleGrammar Gremlins: Legal term 'misprision' explained
A word unfamiliar to most of us, especially its pronunciation, was used frequently in the recent federal court trial of former Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner and in news reports about that...
View ArticleDefense attorney: Vanessa Coleman under 'dominion' of boyfriend when young...
KNOXVILLE — The defense attorney for 2007 torture-slaying suspect Vanessa Coleman told jurors this morning she was an innocent 18-year-old "under the dominion" of a killer boyfriend.
View ArticleColeman retrial offers up new defense twists
Day one in the retrial of torture slaying suspect Vanessa Coleman made one thing clear — this is no carbon copy of her first trial.
View ArticleSuspect's girlfriend testifies in Vanessa Coleman retrial
Even as he held his rape victim hostage, Lemaricus Davidson was trying to woo back his girlfriend, testimony in Knox County Criminal Court on Wednesday showed.
View ArticleJudge set to hear torture-slaying suspect Letalvis Cobbins' complaints about...
A judge is set to decide next week torture-slayings suspect Letalvis Cobbins' bid to fire his taxpayer-funded attorney because he claims the attorney is not representing him with "enthusiastic and...
View ArticleRichard Baumgartner appeals federal convictions
Ex-Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner has appealed his federal convictions for lying to cover up his mistress' role in a drug conspiracy.
View ArticleChannon Christian, Chris Newsom slaying spawn unending agony
It was an unthinkable crime — a young Knox County couple out on a date kidnapped by strangers, bound, beaten, tortured, raped and slain.Christopher Newsom, 23, a Halls High School graduate and gifted...
View ArticleSame crimes, new strategies in aim for retrials in Christian/Newsom slayings
They are each charged with the same horrific crimes, but three torture/slaying defendants on Thursday offered up very different strategies in their continuing quest for new trials.
View ArticleJack McElroy: What's really year's top story?
Sometimes most significant news story isn't the best-read, or even the well known.
View Article2012 list of lists: An across-the-board look at the past year from votes to...
Seeing as how everyone runs their “top 10” lists this time of year, we thought it might be helpful to put all of those in one place for easier viewing.
View ArticleBaumgartner challenges loss of state pension
Days before the anniversary of one of Knoxville's most horrific crimes, the judge who threw the case into legal chaos is now appealing the state's move to rescind his pension.
View ArticleNewsom memorial draws loved ones, strangers alike
Now six years on, Hugh and Mary Newsom have yet to find justice for their son.
View ArticleRuling in torture-slaying case: Convictions stand for ringleader, brother;...
KNOXVILLE — A senior judge today denied new trials for two brothers convicted in the brutal 2007 slayings of a Knox County couple but granted a new trial for a third defendant.
View ArticleJudge denies new trials for Davidson and Cobbins, grants new trial to Thomas
Forgive Gary Christian and Hugh Newsom their cynicism. After all, the two fathers have spent 291 days in Knox County Criminal Court seeking justice for their slain children.
View ArticleVanessa Coleman blames 'bad guys,' drugs in plea for sentencing leniency
She's beat the blues, kicked the drugs, cooled that temper and recognized the siren's call of bad boys.
View ArticleBaumgartner punishment: Imprisonment or probation?
When a federal judge next month decides what punishment to dole out to a once-respected jurist turned convicted felon, he must choose between two contrasting images — betrayer of public trust or...
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