A Tennessee court will soon decide whether it will set an execution date for Christa Pike, one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death and the only woman on the state’s death row, the Nashville Scene reports. Pike’s attorneys yesterday filed arguments against scheduling their client’s execution, clearing the way for the court to make the final decision. Pike was 19 when she was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer during a youth job-training program in Knoxville both women were attending. Her attorneys argue that a history of mental illness, brain damage, abuse and multiple rapes led Pike to becoming the “the teenager who committed a terrible crime.” State and federal governments have executed only 17 women since 1976. If the court decides to set a date, Pike would be the first female executed in Tennessee in roughly 200 years.

Applications are being accepted for Circuit Court Judge in the 25th Judicial District, which includes Fayette, Hardeman, Lauderdale, McNairy, and Tipton counties. The opening was created by the retirement of Judge Joe H. Walker III. Licensed attorneys who are 30 years of age, have been residents of the state for five years and are currently residents of the 25th Judicial District are welcome to apply. Submit the Trial Court Vacancy Commission application to the Administrative Office of the Courts by noon CDT on June 22. The commission will consider applicants at a hearing on July 22 at 9 a.m. CDT. The location will be announced at a later date. The AOC’s website has more on the application process.

A June 14 trial date has been set in the federal wire fraud and money laundering case against Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, the Daily Memphian reports. This is the second set of federal charges brought against Robinson, who will also stand trial on Sept. 13 for the first wave of charges, which include stealing, converting and intentionally misapplying funding for her own use. She was indicted in July 2020 on charges of stealing more than $600,000 in federal grant money intended for The Healthcare Institute, which she founded. U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl Lipman will hear next week’s trial, which could last three to four days. Robinson and two other co-defendants could each face a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Five attorneys have applied for the vacancy in the 7th Judicial District Circuit Court, which covers Anderson County. Dail R. Cantrell, Elizabeth Mitchell Capps, Karen G. Crutchfield, Brian J. Hunt and Ryan Michael Spitzer submitted applications and will be interviewed by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission at a public hearing on July 16. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. EDT in the Commission Chambers of the Anderson County Government Office Building located at 100 North Main Street, Suite 312, Clinton, TN 37716. The commission will take a vote immediately following the hearing and will forward the names of three applicants to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on each candidate. 

Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn has announced that she is seeking a second four-year term, the Daily Memphian reports. Kuhn hosted an opening fundraiser at Neil’s Music Room in East Memphis with a guest list that included Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, former U.S. Rep. John Tanner and several Shelby County judges. During the event, Kuhn touted the several thousand criminal record expungements her office has processed and called for an “expungement court” that would take a “holistic approach” to the process that would help those eligible to also find and keep jobs.

Chief District Judge Pamela L. Reeves will be honored posthumously this month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) prestigious Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. Her family will accept the award in her honor during the Tennessee Bar Association’s Lawyers Luncheon on June 18 at its annual convention in Memphis. Named in honor of former Tennessee Chief Justice Frank Drowota, the Drowota Award is the TBA’s highest award for service to the judiciary and has been given annually for more than a decade.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will host two in-person legal advice clinics this week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. The clinics will take place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT at Operation Stand Down Nashville, 1125 12th Ave. S and on June 10 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. CDT at Greenhouse Ministries, 309 South Spring St., Murfreesboro. To help answer questions, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

Prosecutors in the retrial of former Pilot president Mark Hazelwood said this week that Chattanooga Federal Judge Curtis Collier should not recuse himself from the fraud case, the Chattanoogan reports. Hazelwood and two others had their convictions overturned by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals based on Collier allowing tapes of Hazelwood singing racist songs and using racist banter to be heard in court. Hazelwood last month released a 29-page memorandum in which he questioned the court’s impartiality and asked Collier to step aside. Prosecutor David Lewen said the 6th Circuit had already decided on the matter. Lewen quoted the federal appeals court ruling, which stated that “nothing in the record suggests that the district court would have substantial difficulty in setting aside previously expressed views,” and that the record showed the court’s “unwavering dedication to the integrity of the criminal justice process.” The government is also in opposition of the defense’s attempt to move the trial out of Chattanooga.  

There is still time to register for the 2021 TBA Annual Convention virtual experience! The virtual option includes all the same CLE and key programs as the in-person option but at a significant savings. Programming will be offered each day next week. Early in the week, Tennessee law school alumni will gather for virtual mixers, while virtual programs will focus on civility, the TBA’s Practice Management Center and legal trends beyond COVID. On Thursday, join colleagues gathered in Memphis for the annual Bench Bar program and popular Better Right Now CLE via Zoom. And on Friday, don’t miss the annual Legislative Update CLE and Lawyers Luncheon, where colleagues will be honored for their service to the bar and the profession, and Nashville lawyer Sherie Edwards will be sworn in as TBA's 142nd president. Register here for the virtual option.

A Nashville court yesterday heard arguments in the ongoing legal battle over a property tax referendum set for a July 27 special election vote, the Tennessean reports. The group 4 Good Government, led by attorney Jim Roberts, filed the petition to place six initiatives on the ballot, including one that would roll back the city’s recent property tax increase. In arguments before Judge Russell Perkins, Metro Nashville legal called the petition “defective” and “unconstitutional.” Legal counsel for the Davidson County Election Commissions said that the petition was lawfully filed and that the commission acted accordingly in its 3-2 decision to allow the initiatives on the ballot. Both sides also clashed on the proposed election date, the signature-gathering threshold and how the signatures were counted. Attorneys for the commission want the judge to solely examine the commission’s conduct instead of the substance of the petition since the case is waiting on the judge’s judicial review instead of a declaratory judgement. Metro attorneys said they will file a separate suit seeking declaratory judgement if the judicial review doesn’t resolve the situation. Perkins is expected to issue a written ruling by June 18.