GUILTY TN - Chris Newsom, 23, & Channon Christian, 21, murdered, Knoxville, 6 Jan 2007 #20

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people's backgrounds interest me as well, but I can't imagine hearing anything in her life that could make me sympathize with her. from what i've gathered she has a decent family life, nothing too traumatic to make her this way.. and I believe in an eye for an eye..i hope she gets kicked in the crotch EVERY DAY she is in prison. i really do. sorry if that offends anybody, but this whole thing keeps me up at night because she is possibly escaping justice. and i just can't imagine being one of the victims parents. my heart goes out to them every second of every day
 
PrairieWind said:
You know, one of the things that angers me the most about Vanessa Coleman is that she didnt grow up in the bad environment that Cobbins and Davidson did. Not that those two didnt have people that cared for them or that it is an excuse for them. But Coleman had two parents that had jobs and provided for her and ensured she was in school and got an education. She was raised well and yet she still CHOSE to live the life.
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Yes, Coleman grew up in a two-parent middle class family. Her parents were there every day and unlike the other defendants, they hired her attorney, Ted Lavitt, a prominent Kentucky lawyer.

David In TN
 
lovelydork said:
people's backgrounds interest me as well, but I can't imagine hearing anything in her life that could make me sympathize with her. from what i've gathered she has a decent family life, nothing too traumatic to make her this way.. and I believe in an eye for an eye..i hope she gets kicked in the crotch EVERY DAY she is in prison. i really do. sorry if that offends anybody, but this whole thing keeps me up at night because she is possibly escaping justice. and i just can't imagine being one of the victims parents. my heart goes out to them every second of every day
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Your post doesn't offend me. I have the same hopes for Vanessa you do. I just want to clarify that I'm not looking for a reason to be sympathetic. I just like to know what makes people tick.
 
lol you remind me of that Candice(sp?Candace?) woman on the ID channel she uses the same words(wanting to know what makes them tick) when she talks on the shows like "Deadly Women" and "Facing Evil" I wonder if she'd ever consider interviewing VC on facing evil.... I'd watch it, but I would probably want to reach through the TV screen and smack VC for lying
 
SuziQ said:
Your post doesn't offend me. I have the same hopes for Vanessa you do. I just want to clarify that I'm not looking for a reason to be sympathetic. I just like to know what makes people tick.
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I agree Suzi. I would be interesting to know how these people thing. I understand robbery/theft. That motiviation is easy to see. But how can a person justify and seeminly enjoy the terrorizing and torture (sexual torture) and murder of completly innocent strangers? They seemingly all carried on later like it was no big deal. That I can never understand.
 
the state and that includes both Leland and TJ are doing all they can now to try to stop new trials because they all know they should have done something during the course of the trials, they all saw the Judge at times in court struggling to stay awake, slurring his words, they knew he had problems, if they had said something at the outset then we would not be in this mess

the families sat through 4 trials under this judge, hearing evidence no family should ever have to hear, but they attended each and ever day and it must have been horrendous for them, they should only have ever had to do it once, the state had a duty to make sure that there were no serious appellate issues such as an impaired judge that meant we had a do over

I think all 4 should get a do over, justice should be carried out to the highest standards and a judge who was seriously impaired and behaving as this one did should never have presided over such a trial,
 
If Blackwood orders retrial it WILL be overturned again because he has not complied with the mandate of the Supreme Court on remand. That is perplexing.
 
Greetings, all. Looks like there has been some courtroom action this week....

Judge Blackwood will not recuse himself from Christian Newsom cases
5:42 PM, Jun 14, 2012

Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood says he will not recuse himself from overseeing the Channon Christian and Chris Newsom murder cases.

In a hearing in court on Thursday, Blackwood said, "I intend to run this ship. I'm here by appointment of Supreme Court. Until Supreme Court tells me otherwise, I'm not leaving."

Prosecutors filed a motion on June 1 that asked Blackwood to step aside earlier this month. Their Motion To Recuse includes emails the state said the judge sent to attorneys involved in the case. References to rumors within the e-mails have prosecutors concerned.
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More at link, with video:
http://http://www.wbir.com/news/article/223017/2/Judge-Blackwood-will-not-recuse-himself-from-Christian-Newsom-cases
 
And a second story:

Is judge too emotionally involved in Christian-Newsom case?
Posted: Jun 15, 2012 2:40 PM PDT

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A courtroom outburst Thursday between Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood and District Attorney General Randy Nichols has people wondering if the judge is too emotionally involved in the Christian-Newsom murders case.

The outburst may have looked like a scene from a legal drama, but a Lincoln Memorial University professor says the Christian-Newsom case has everyone involved working overtime and tension is at an all time high.
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As the DA and Judge Blackwood faced off Thursday about a motion for the judge to recuse himself from the case, the judge told Nichols, "You will sit down or I will hold you in contempt."

Professor Richard Gaines said, "It's very rare we have an explosion like this down in criminal court."
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More at link, with video:
http://www.wate.com/story/18801861/is-judge-too-emotionally-involved-in-christian-newsom-case

Apparently, the DA's office has not made a decision whether or not to (re) appeal Judge Blackwood's decision. I foresee a lot of focused attention from the media and the Bar Assn newsletter in the judge's future. :)
 
this is just going to run and run and run, even if the DA gets Blackwood to change his mind the defence will appeal this decision, as I have previously posted if TJ and Leland and everybody else who knew the judge was impaired during the trials had called a halt and reported him then the Judge would never have presided over the trials and a competent judge could have been selected so the family only ever had to go through it once,

I can't imagine how angry both families must be, it must be like an open wound that is never allowed to heal,
 
Just tragic :banghead: The deaths and trial were a nightmare and now this :maddening: My heart goes out to these Families. I watched some of the trial and thought the Judge was just having some kind of aging issues :what:
 
joe jones said:
this is just going to run and run and run, even if the DA gets Blackwood to change his mind the defence will appeal this decision, as I have previously posted if TJ and Leland and everybody else who knew the judge was impaired during the trials had called a halt and reported him then the Judge would never have presided over the trials and a competent judge could have been selected so the family only ever had to go through it once,

I can't imagine how angry both families must be, it must be like an open wound that is never allowed to heal,
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Joe, this really is a mess beyond anything I have ever seen. I honestly can't imagine how this is going to play out. I do think Blackwood will eventually be have to step away. His statements about the prosecution are clearly inappropriate. I think it was a mistake for him to not certify the decision, but that is probably a moot issue at this point. Regretably I think retrials will likely have to occure thought my legal opinion is that they are not required. I think Blackwood will probably be reprimanded and the retrials passed to a judge outside of the district. What bothers me abotu this, is the the Knoxville District Court has tried to place the blame on the DA office. And that is wrong. I know of know requirement for the prosecutor to monitor the judge. The defense attorneys had the same knowledge yet are inexplicably cleared of blame. The other judges of the District Court are primarily responsible by judicial canon to monitor the integrity of the court. Yet that court apparantly has appointed Blackwood to deflect that blame elsewhere. I have little hope that Slim would have ever been executed given the current state of Tenn capital punishment, and I dont really think he nor Cobbins, nor Thomas will ever see the light of day again. But the damage done to the public's trust in the system is probably irreperable.
 
PrairieWind said:
Joe, this really is a mess beyond anything I have ever seen. I honestly can't imagine how this is going to play out. I do think Blackwood will eventually be have to step away. His statements about the prosecution are clearly inappropriate. I think it was a mistake for him to not certify the decision, but that is probably a moot issue at this point. Regretably I think retrials will likely have to occure thought my legal opinion is that they are not required. I think Blackwood will probably be reprimanded and the retrials passed to a judge outside of the district. What bothers me abotu this, is the the Knoxville District Court has tried to place the blame on the DA office. And that is wrong. I know of know requirement for the prosecutor to monitor the judge. The defense attorneys had the same knowledge yet are inexplicably cleared of blame. The other judges of the District Court are primarily responsible by judicial canon to monitor the integrity of the court. Yet that court apparantly has appointed Blackwood to deflect that blame elsewhere. I have little hope that Slim would have ever been executed given the current state of Tenn capital punishment, and I dont really think he nor Cobbins, nor Thomas will ever see the light of day again. But the damage done to the public's trust in the system is probably irreperable.
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(emphasis added by me)

Thank you for the legal insight and perspective as to the workings of what's going on in the case. I highlighted the areas in your post that answered some problems that had been vexing me. Your post is very much appreciated. :)
 
thank you prairie wind that was a well spoken post! I'm not eloquent enough to post on this site... I mostly lurk. but this is one of the cases that haunt me the most and I cannot fathom what everyone is going through. It's not fair and the judge IMO is biased and there should be another judge appointed to this situation
 
Thanks for the update. I hadnt seen that. I can't figure out why Blackwood's latest order would affect Cobbins and Davidson but not Thomas. More of a mess.
 
PrairieWind, it really is a mess!

From what I gather, Blackwood took heed of the TN Supreme Courts ruling against the basis he used to order new trials for Davidson and Cobbins, but decided to ignore what the court's inclusion of Thomas. Blackwood is reviewing the trial transcripts for Davidson and Cobbins but not for Thomas, of whom Blackwood has decreed his first order still stands. (I know: go figure.)

In the meantime, Thomas and his attys are pressing for a speedy trial. From one news report, this move seems to have stymied State from again contesting Thomas's new trial.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/12/christiannewsom-slaying-suspect-demands-speedy/

More recently, the three named defendants' defense teams have decided to take the matter of Blackwood's recusal to the US Supreme Court, seeking a stay of the motion to recuse ;
The judge says all three of those defendants have filed notice that they will seek a stay in the proceedings to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The order says that needs to be done quickly.

"Now the defendants may have to look at what the Tennessee Supreme Court did and take that order and take it up to the United States Supreme Court and they have a strict deadline on that," [Richard] Gaines said.
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http://www.wate.com/story/18847599/...in-christian-newsom-case?clienttype=printable

So, it's not clear why Blackwood has decided that Thomas is an exception to the TN Supreme Court's order to vacate (if that's the correct terminology). But it certainly has given the chance for:

1) Thomas's attys to block State by insisting on a speedy trial (I guess. lol)

2) strongly hinting to all 3 defendants that they take the recusal issue to the US Supreme Court even before that motion is heard in October. (I'm reading between the lines of his more recent "Corrected Order," page two, where it suddenly seems that the 3 teams are thinking about filing a writ with the US Supreme Court but the judge says make it snappy because there's deadline. Sounds like a little outside the courtroom conferencing here?)

For that document, see second hyperlink "Corrected Order" at:
http://www.wate.com/story/18847599/...in-christian-newsom-case?clienttype=printable

So far, at least, Coleman's new trial is going forward without undue complexity. So far. ;)
 
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