The Tennessee Supreme Court disbarred Everett Hoge Mechem from the practice of law on Friday. Mechem was disciplined following a felony conviction for wire fraud, supplemental security income fraud, making false statements and theft of public money. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday suspended Texas attorney Richard Kent Harris from the practice of law in Tennessee. Harris was suspended based upon his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. The Board of Professional Responsibility will institute a formal proceeding to determine the extent of the final discipline to be imposed on Harris.

John Martin Drake of Nashville was suspended for two years from the practice of law by the Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday. Drake was found to have knowingly made a series of telephone calls to the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex identifying himself as an attorney and representing himself as the attorney for an inmate in the facility, despite the fact that he was previously suspended in 2015.

For the third time, a Knox County court will consider whether Raynella Dossett Leath murdered her husband. The jury in the first trial could not agree on a verdict, and the second trial’s judge was found to be high on drugs during the trial and the verdict was thrown out, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports. Leath is accused of murdering her second husband, David Leath, in 2003. She is also suspected of murdering her first husband, Knox County District Attorney General Ed Dossett in 1992.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed James Hawkins’ premeditated murder conviction and sentence of death for the 2008 murder of Charlene Gaither, Hawkins’s long-term girlfriend and the mother of his children. Proof at trial showed that Hawkins had murdered Gaither because she threatened to expose his sexual abuse of their daughter. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his convictions and the jury's death sentence. Upon its automatic review of the case, the Supreme Court ruled that, although Hawkins was illegally seized without a warrant, the admission into evidence of the statement he gave while illegally held was harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt, and any impropriety had not deprived Hawkins of a fair trial. Justice Cornelia Clark wrote the majority opinion, while Justice Sharon Lee authored a concurring opinion.

Ashley D. Boyer of Bristol, Peter M. Filetti of Blountville and William K. Rogers of Kingsport were today chosen as finalists to fill the impending Circuit Court vacancy in the 2nd Judicial District. The names now go to Gov. Bill Haslam for his consideration. The Trial Court Vacancy Commission interviewed applicants and held a public hearing before making the selections today to fill the vacency created by the retirement of Judge R. Jerry Beck. 

Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich’s office confirmed that it is involved in a probe into a decorated Memphis Police Department sex crimes detective who was relieved of duty last week, the Commercial Appeal reports. Ouita Knowlton was fired last week for unspecified reasons, and the City of Memphis decided to withhold records related to her release, citing “an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation.” The investigation highlights frustrations felt by rape victims like Meaghan Ybos, whose rape kit was not tested until nine years after her attack.

Nashville firm Branstetter, Stranch and Jennings has elected J. Gerard Stranch IV as managing partner, the Nashville Post reports. Stranch, son to senior partner James G. Stranch III, is the youngest attorney in the firm’s history to hold the position. He is among the attorneys appointed to serve on the nationwide plaintiffs’ steering committee in litigation against Volkswagen in the diesel vehicles emissions cheating case.