By Nicholas Stix
Yesterday my reader-researcher, David in Tennessee, passed along the following note, which should be of interest to anyone who has been following the Knoxville Horror saga:
Knox News Sentinel reporter Jamie Satterfield will be on WNOX radio on Sunday at 2 PM ET. She will be taking questions on the Coleman trial. This station streams on the internet.
Hit this link for the Internet hook-up.
P.S. Call 656-8255, or toll-free 1-800-951-8255
Here is what David wrote on May 8:
"I've had one hell of an adventure"
I got back from Knoxville a few hours ago. I saw 3 hours of trial on Wednesday and all day Thursday and Friday. Here is an account from the Knoxville ABC station. The video shows the entry. Coleman wrote [in her journal],
"I've had one hell of an adventure in the big TN," and "Ha Ha."
[NS: Coleman’s “adventure in the big TN” consisted, in its entirety, of her participation in the gang rape, torture, and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. So much for Coleman, her attorneys,’ and her family’s disgusting contention that she was a prisoner, and as much a victim as Channon Christian.]
We in the courtroom audience felt it blew apart the defense that Theodore Lavitt had put up through cross examination the last two days. Lavitt made only a brief cross on the journal even though he knew of it for months. He looked beaten to me, though I suppose he'll think of something over the weekend. The jury, which by previous questions, seems to have some pro-defense jurors, asked no questions, perhaps out of shock. Being there in person, I could see the jury. I've read that most juries are half of what each side wants. This jury certainly looked half and half to me.
The last 3 days I saw and heard a lot.
Ultimately, the jury ignored the case that the tenacious, brilliant black lead prosecutor Takisha Fitzgerald and her competent, white co-prosecutor, Leland Price had put together, and acquitted Coleman of first-degree murder, and convicted her only of the lesser charges of “facilitating the first degree murder, kidnapping, rape and theft of Channon Christian.”
Coleman was the first and only one of the four KH murder defendants to be acquitted of murder. Previously, her boyfriend, Letalvis Cobbins, was convicted on all major charges and sentenced to life without parole, as was George Thomas, while Cobbins’ half-brother and the gang’s ringleader, Lemaricus Davidson, was sentenced to death.
Coleman will likely get a negligible sentence.
Hit this link for a tally of the cases so far.
When do you ever hear of a black female criminal getting her just deserts?
Victims' families upset by verdict
Chris Newsom's mother, Mary, said she felt the jury didn't pay any attention to criminal responsibility or the evidence presented by the prosecution in this case.
Hugh Newsom, Chris' father, said Coleman needs to spend a lot more time than her possible prison sentence. He also said he felt the jury had a "vendetta" not to give Coleman the maximum sentences.
The Newsoms said they'll never have any closure or any peace.
"We've never had a good outcome with a jury from Nashville. We don't have any place to go. We've been cheated," Hugh Newsom said. He added that he felt the jurors were "incompetent."
Mary Newsom said when Coleman smiled after the verdicts, she looked like "she got away with something."
Channon Christian's mother, Deena, said she thought the verdicts showed, "It's easy to get away with murder in Nashville," but she admitted she was "shocked" by the decision.
Gary Christian, Channon's father, said the verdicts were "a joke."
When asked if they thought the jurors being from Davidson County instead of Knox County got Coleman convicted on lesser charges, Deena said, "I agree wholeheartedly.
They didn't care."
Coleman acquitted on 1st degree murder, convicted on lesser charges, WATE, Updated: May 14, 2010 9:41 AM EDT.
Jamie Satterfield is the only journalist who has written more on the Knoxville Horror than I have. She leans liberal, though she is not quite as shameless as her boss, Jack McElroy, who is completely dishonest, and in spite of occasional talking points eruptions, she is a legitimate reporter. She was also helpful to me in the early going.
If you can reach the station (I don’t have the number, but they will hopefully be providing a toll-free number), you’ll want to ask Satterfield what, besides racism, could have motivated jurors to refuse to convict Coleman of Channon Christian’s murder. If you do ask her that, be prepared for her to counter, “But the white jurors voted to acquit her of murder, as well.”
If she says that or something like it, and you can get in another comment, nudge her on what she heard about the jury deliberations. My hunch is that the four black jurors held out for a deal, whereby the entire jury would convict Coleman only on the minor charges, or the blacks would hang the jury on all the charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment