Judge Refuses to Step Aside in Slaying Case
The senior judge who has again ordered new trials in the slaying of a young Knoxville couple has refused to step aside from the case. Judge John Kerry Blackwood announced his decision during a hearing in Knoxville on Thursday. Blackwood ordered new trials for defendants convicted in the torture slayings of 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom in 2007. His ruling came after it was revealed the judge who presided over the trials – Richard Baumgartner – had been addicted to prescription painkillers that he was buying illegally. The hearing Thursday produced a sharp exchange during which Blackwood told Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols to sit down and threatened to cite him for contempt.
