GUEST ENTRY by DAVID in TENNESSEE!
Christian-Newsome Bills Pass Tennessee House and Senate
The Tennessee State Senate on Thursday, February 20, passed the two bills that I previously mentioned in my last entry. They
were designed to help crime victims and their families from being
further victimized in the courts.
The parents of Channon Christian and Christopher
Newsom spoke in favor of the bills before the Tennessee State Senate
Judiciary Committee earlier in February.
Christian
and Newsom were carjacked, tortured, and murdered in 2007. The
defendants were found guilty, but because Judge Richard Baumgartner was
guilty of using illegal drugs during the trials, retrials were ordered
for two of the defendants.
Baumgartner had verbally accepted the verdicts, but
did not sign the form acting as 13th Juror upholding the jury's decision
before being forced to resign from the bench.
Senate
Bill 1796, The Chris Newsom Act, creates a presumption that the
presiding judge presumably has completed his duties upon accepting the
verdict of the jury.
Senate Bill 1797, The Channon Christian Act,
restricts bringing into evidence "presumptions or false information that
are related to the victim that is totally unrelated to the crime."
On March 27, 2014, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed the two bills unanimously. When the bills passed, members of the legislature gave a standing ovation.
The Channon Christian and Chris Newsom acts will go
to the governor's desk for signature. Governor Haslam has said he
supports both measures.
The torture-murders of
Christian and Newsom took place in the home of Lemaricus Davidson, who
was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death. The other
defendants, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman were
convicted and sentenced to life without parole, life with the
possibility of parole, and 35 years. Thomas and Coleman were tried a
second time because of the 13th Juror rule. Davidson and Cobbins were
not retried because of DNA evidence pointing to their guilt.
A few weeks ago, Knoxville News Sentinel reporter
Jamie Satterfield, who covered the story, tweeted that she doesn't think
the Channon Christian Act was constitutional.
She may be right. The courts give a defendant a lot of leeway in defending themselves.
I emailed Satterfield several months ago and asked
how her proposed book on the Christian-Newsom case was coming along. She
never replied. I have emailed her several times over the years and
previously she always got back to me.
Two weeks ago I emailed her again with the same
question. No answer. I wonder if Jamie Satterfield has given up on
writing the book. I check her twitter feed daily and she never refers to
it. I hope I'm wrong as this is nothing but speculation on my part.
There is no news on the proposed film on the case.
Gail Witt, who was making the film, recently died of cancer. The
Facebook page, "Forever Changed,"
has reported that the film is completed and is still in the editing
stage.
David in TN
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2 comments:
Thank you David for updating this story. These horrific murders still upset me so much. It has always disturbed me when defense attorneys are allowed to insinuate with no evidence that the victim was culpable of anything in the crime perpetrated by the defendant against them. Lies, insinuations or even anything that has absolutely no bearing on the case, should not be allowed. And attorneys should be held accountable for any lies they do tell. JMO Do you know if this is going to be a TV movie or a theater release? Thanks again.
My understanding is the film will be made up of interviews and TV news reports. The people making the film had some hope of it being shown on TV, one of the cable channels presumably, also exhibited at film festivals.
If nothing else, on DVD.
David In TN
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