Appeals Court Upholds Christian-Newsom Torture-Slaying Sentence - Articles

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Posted by: Brittany Sims on Sep 17, 2014

A state appeals court has upheld the conviction and sentence of Letalvis Cobbins, one of the men convicted of participating in the kidnapping, torture and killing of Knoxville couple Channon Christian and Chris Newsom in 2007. Cobbins claimed his trial was tainted by the drug use and misconduct of former Knoxville Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, who resigned from the bench and pleaded guilty to official misconduct in March 2011. A three-judge panel of the Court of Criminal Appeals found that the Tennessee Supreme Court already ruled that Baumgartner's conduct outside the courtroom did not prevent Cobbins from receiving a fair trial. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.