Detective charged with perjury appeals to oust prosecutor
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – The only adult still facing charges in a rape case involving Tennessee high school basketball players plans to appeal a judge’s decision allowing a local prosecutor to remain on the case.
News outlets report the attorney for Gatlinburg Police Department Detective Rodney Burns says Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston should not be allowed to prosecute the case because of a civil defamation claim Burns has filed against Pinkston.
Burns faces two counts of aggravated perjury regarding his testimony about a 15-year-old Ooltewah High School basketball player who prosecutors say was sexually assaulted by his teammates in an apparent hazing incident.
Judge Tom Greenholtz ruled in October that Pinkston can prosecute the case. On Wednesday, Greenholtz allowed Burns to ask the Tennessee Court of Appeals to review his decision.
