Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Christian-Newsom Murders: Vanessa Coleman Convicted on 13 of 17 Counts

GUEST ENTRY BY DAVID IN TENNESSEE!

Vanessa Coleman was found guilty today on 13 of 17 counts. She was found guilty of the top charge of facilitating the first degree murder of Channon Christian.

The counts and verdict:

Count 8. Not guilty of facilitation to commit the first degree murder of Channon Christian in the Perpetration of Kidnapping Chris Newsom.

Count 12. Guilty of facilitation to commit first degree murder of Channon Christian in the Perpetration of Rape of Channon Christian.

Count 16. Guilty of facilitation to commit first degree murder of Channon Christian in the Perpetration of Theft on Channon Christian.

Count 18. Guilty of facilitation to commit second degree murder.

Count 23. Guilty of facilitation to commit aggravated kidnapping.

Count 24. Guilty of facilitation to commit aggravated kidnapping.

Counts 25, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38. Guilty of facilitation to commit rape.

Counts 42. 44. Not guilty of facilitation to commit aggravated rape of Channon Christian by anal penetration, vaginal penetration.

Count 46. Guilty of facilitation to commit theft in an amount of $500 or less.

The facilitation of first degree murder charges carry a sentence of 15-20 years in prison. The sentence is on this and the other charges are up to Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood.

The jury deliberated nearly nine hours over two days.

In addition to WATE, I used information from WBIR in compiling this report.
David in TN

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that the other perps convictions stand and the Christians and Newsoms never have to go to court ever again.

Anonymous said...

On Wednesday, Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Jamie Satterfield appeared on a Knoxville radio station streamed online. She addressed this question.

Attorneys in Knoxville believe Judge Kurtz, who replaced Blackwood on these cases, will uphold the verdicts against Cobbins and Davidson. There was extensive DNA evidence tying both to Channon's rape and murder.

They think it is likely George Thomas will get a retrial. There will be a hearing December 13 on this issue.

Yes, this case has gone on far too long. In less than two months, it will be six years since Channon and Chris were tortured and murdered.

David In TN

Anonymous said...

According to a story by Jamie Satterfield in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Judge Blackwood has set a proposed sentencing date of February 1 for Vanessa Coleman. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have been asked to check their repective calendars.

Coleman was sentenced after her first trial to 53 years in prison. This time she could receive from 25years to a maximum of 40 years. Satterfield wrote:

"Under Tennessee law, Blackwood may only smack Coleman with maximum sentencing and a stacking of each of those sentencies if he finds the list of so-called "aggravated factors" cited in the state's law book outweigh "mitigating factors" raised by the defense.

Some would say the "aggravated factors" in this case are considerable.

David In TN