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KNOXVILLE — A judge said today he has no authority to make public the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's file on former judge Richard Baumgartner. "This court has no authority whatsoever to decide on its own, 'I'm going to let the public see this file,'" Special Judge John Kerry Blackwood said at a specially-called hearing in Knox County Criminal Court. Blackwood said the portions of the file not made public contain phone records and recorded conversations in which Baumgartner discusses sex with two women and makes "crude remarks" about people. "What you're not going to find (in the TBI file) is...

The four pieces of human filth who brutally raped and murdered a young Knoxville couple are all getting new trials, thanks to the drug-addicted judge who presided over the cases. Former judge Richard Baumgartner bought extensively from the convicts in his own drug court. He considered himself above the law but finally got caught. Because he was high much of the time he was presiding over the trials, the families of the victims get to hear yet again how their children were savagely beaten, raped and mutilated before finally being killed.

Tennessee Jury Lets Torturer-Murderer-Rapist Live, to Prey on Others August 28, 12:24 Some juries are indulgent towards even the most vicious and plainly-guilty criminals. A Nashville jury just let a nightmarishly-evil torturer-murderer-rapist, Letalvis Cobbins, escape the death penalty in the rapes, torture, mutilation, and murders of Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian. Now, he can spend the rest of his life raping and preying on vulnerable prison inmates, like first-time offenders. The jurors who blocked the death penalty may have mistakenly believed that they were sophisticated and progressive by rejecting the death penalty, but in truth, they were being cruel, since,...

Tennessee Jury Lets Torturer-Murderer-Rapist Live, to Prey on Others August 28, 12:24 PMDC SCOTUS ExaminerHans BaderPrevious Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe Subscribe Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC SCOTUS Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use. Email Address Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use Some juries are indulgent towards even the most vicious and plainly-guilty criminals. A Nashville jury just let a nightmarishly-evil torturer-murderer-rapist, Letalvis Cobbins, escape the death penalty in the rapes, torture, mutilation, and murders of Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian. Now, he can spend the rest of his life raping...

Torture-slayings trial, Day 9: Victim's families: Jury 'let us down' with Letalvis Cobbins verdict KNOXVILLE - The families of a young Knox County couple tortured and killed in January 2007 tonight sharply criticized a jury's decision to spare defendant Letalvis Cobbins the death penalty. "I think the jury has let us down," said Mary Newsom, mother of murder victim Chris Newsom. "I think they've let Channon and Chris down. We were hoping for the death penalty." After deliberating a little more than two hours, the jury delivered its verdict about 6:50 p.m. in Judge Richard Baumgartner's courtroom. The judge polled...

In a case that's been widely ignored by the mainstream media, justice prevailed today as Letalvis Cobbins was found guilty of the vast majority of charges, including that of first-degree murder. Cobbins was one of a group of thugs who carjacked, then raped, tortured and murdered two Knoxville residents. For more on the story, see the Knoxville News-Sentinel. http://digg.com/d311xYc

Jurors in Knoxville, Tenn., have begun hearing arguments in a trial over the grisly deaths of a white couple – allegedly at the hands of a gang of black men and one woman who tried to conceal DNA evidence by dousing one victim with bleach. According to court documents, the two were tied up, blindfolded and taken to one defendant's rental home. Shortly thereafter, Newsom was sexually assaulted, shot in the head, set on fire and his body was left beside railroad tracks. The attackers allegedly took 24 hours to kill Christian, raping her multiple times and spraying bleach in...

The first of four alleged members of a black gang scheduled to be tried for murder for the torture-slayings of a young white couple has been found guilty on multiple counts by jurors in Tennessee. WND reported just days ago when the trial was begun for Letalvis Cobbins on counts of first-degree murder and others for the 2007 deaths of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Carjacking victims Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom The brutalized bodies of the victims showed evidence that the attackers had tried to destroy DNA evidence by dousing Christian with bleach and Newsom's body was burned beyond...