By David in TN
Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 12:59:00 A.M. EST
Today (Monday) was the first day of hearings for convicted Knoxville Horror killer Lemaricus Davidson's attempt to overturn his death sentence.
His lawyers raised a few arguments. They complain Davidson's trial got too much national publicity. When has it been on ABC 20/20, NBC Nightline, CBS 48 Hours? Answer, none.
One of his trial attorneys, Doug Trant, testified Davidson was offered a plea deal of "Life Without Parole," but Davidson insisted on going to trial.
Davidson's lawyers wanted to "point the finger at Eric Boyd" but were unable to. It was admitted at the trial that Davidson was of sound mind and knew what he was doing.
The hearing will continue tomorrow (Tuesday).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Lemaricus is a big strong black dude. He shouldn't be afraid of the E-lectric chair. Tough guy turning yellow at the end.
jerry pdx
Hate crime hoax alert! Actor Jussie Smollett (who?) had homophobic & racist slurs yelled at him by two men who also struck him, poured some kind of substance on him and wrapped a rope around his neck. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/empire-actor-jussie-smollett-hospitalized-after-attack-police-investigating-as-possible-hate-crime
I looked him up and he's an actor who plays a gay character on "Empire", a show I've never watched but is sort of popular from what I've read. He is also gay in his private life. Wonder what kind of injuries he actually received and how serious they really are? Says he was hospitalized but that doesn't mean he was hurt severely. If it actually happened what was the race of the attackers? The most homophobic racial/ethnic group in the US is black men so those would be the likeliest suspects. The wrapping of a rope around the neck sounds like an attempt to evoke the old lynching symbolism, always gets the virtue signaling PC crowd in a tizzy. If the story doesn't have any follow up and just kind of disappears you know it was a staged event, other possibility to make it quietly disappear is that if the perps were members of a protected minority group (black, Hispanic, immigrant of color).
jerry pdx
One has to wonder how a lawyer could make the claim that the Knoxville horror case has gotten "too much publicity" with a straight face. How anybody could not feel their intelligence is being insulted by something so absurd?
Go out on the street right now and ask anybody, who does not live in the geographic region the crime occurred and ask them if they know the names Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom? Guarantee 99% will not know them. But 99% will know that the Covington kids are a bunch of racist punks. Media has made sure of that.
Here (https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2019/01/28/christian-newsom-murders-lemaricus-davidson-death-penalty/2702071002/) is the Knoxville News Sentinel story on Monday's session by Matt Lakin.
Our ex-friend Jamie "I am the Queen of Crime Writing" Satterfield was covering another trial.
"Monday marked the start of hearings set to last through much of the week as lawyers for Davidson seek to convince Senior judge Walter Kurtz that Davidson's 2009 trial was flawed and that the jury's verdict should be thrown out."
We were told at the time that since the defense insisted on a Knox County jury, they couldn't later appeal on the issue of getting an outside jury. Well, they are appealing on "change of venue jury" anyway.
From Monday's testimony: Davidson and his lawyers believed it would be impossible to get an "impartial" jury from the Knox County pool. Defense attorney Doug Trant testified "I told Lemaricus if we got a jury from Mars, and if they believed what the prosecutors said he did, they would give him the death penalty."
The defense hoped it would be impossible to "find a dozen impartial jurors in Knox County - and secretly hoped not to, Trant suggested."
"I told (Davidson) if we were not able to seat a jury, he could not be convicted," Trant testified.
Davidson's lawyers hoped jury selection would be "interminable." The prosecution would be forced to offer Davidson a plea deal on a reduced charge. Then Knox County District Attorney General offered Davidson a guilty plea to "Life Without Parole" taking the death penalty off the table.
Davidson supposedly said he preferred death to life in prison.
After the trial ended up with a guilty verdict and death sentence, Davidson had "regrets."
"I remember when he got the death sentence, he cried," Trant said. "He said it was one thing to anticipate a death sentence and another to actually get it."
Surprise, surprise.
Trant also testified it was common knowledge among the Knox County legal community that the late Judge Richard Baumgartner was a heavy drug user.
Tuesday's session (https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2019/01/29/christian-newsom-murder-lemaricus-davidson-murder-trial-death-penalty/2708218002/) was more of the same.
The other defense attorney, David Eldridge, claimed the victim's families "helped fuel a mob atmosphere by being visibly emotional during the trial."
Although Jamie wasn't present, during the day she tweeted: "I wouldn't worry too much about this phase of Davidson's appeal. Post conviction appeals are rarely successful."
Post a Comment