12-18-2012, 10:10 PM
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A senior judge recently appointed to oversee the murder cases stemming from the torture killing of a young Knoxville couple has promised a quick ruling on whether three defendants should get new trials.
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/WbdzcF ) reported that, at a Thursday hearing in Knox County Criminal Court, Judge Walter Kurtz said the motions for new trials "don't need to fester any longer" and that he would decide on them by mid-January. The victims were 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom.
Lemaricus Davidson; his brother, Letalvis Cobbins; Cobbins' pal, George Thomas; and Cobbins' girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, were earlier granted new trials because the trial judge admitted abusing pain pills.
Coleman was retried and reconvicted last month. She was convicted of facilitating the murder of Christian, but found guilty on less serious ancillary charges than at her initial trial. The result is that her maximum sentence would now be 43 years — 10 fewer years than she had initially drawn.
The state did not disagree with former special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood's decision that Coleman deserved a retrial.
Prosecutors, however, opposed new trials for Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas.
The Tennessee Supreme Court removed Blackwood from overseeing those cases after a courtroom clash involving him and state prosecutors.
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Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/WbdzcF ) reported that, at a Thursday hearing in Knox County Criminal Court, Judge Walter Kurtz said the motions for new trials "don't need to fester any longer" and that he would decide on them by mid-January. The victims were 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom.
Lemaricus Davidson; his brother, Letalvis Cobbins; Cobbins' pal, George Thomas; and Cobbins' girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, were earlier granted new trials because the trial judge admitted abusing pain pills.
Coleman was retried and reconvicted last month. She was convicted of facilitating the murder of Christian, but found guilty on less serious ancillary charges than at her initial trial. The result is that her maximum sentence would now be 43 years — 10 fewer years than she had initially drawn.
The state did not disagree with former special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood's decision that Coleman deserved a retrial.
Prosecutors, however, opposed new trials for Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas.
The Tennessee Supreme Court removed Blackwood from overseeing those cases after a courtroom clash involving him and state prosecutors.
___
Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com