Disgraced Knox County Judge Criminal Judge Richard Baumgartner has reported to a minimum security federal prison in West Virginia to serve a six-month sentence following his conviction in federal court for lying to investigators to cover up pill-buys from his mistress.
The News-Sentinel story is here.
Baumgartner presided over a series of trials in connection with the carjacking, torture, rape, and murder of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom. State charges were brought when the TBI came in and investigated his pill-usage and purchases from his mistress Deena Castleman who was a "graduate" of the Drug Court established by Baumgartner.
Baumgartner negotiated a plea deal on the state charges where he pled guilty to official misconduct, resigned from the bench, and received diversion.
Federal charges were then brought and Baumgartner was convicted in federal court of misprision. He is appealing that conviction but elected to go on and serve his sentence while the appeals process moves forward.
In a related story, former DA Al Schmutzer expressed relief over the recent conviction of George Thomas following his re-trial in the Christian-Newsom case. Schmutzer was not involved in the Christian-Newsom trials but acted as the special prosecutor in the state case against Baumgartner and negotiated a plea deal where Baumgartner would resign from the bench, plea guilty to official misconduct, and receive diversion which would allow his record to be wiped clean if his record remained out of trouble for two years. The interview with Schmutzer is here.
Previous blog posts and links to stories about Baumgartner are here.
Showing posts with label Al Schmutzer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Schmutzer. Show all posts
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
January 11, 2012 Former Knox Judge Richard Baumgartner: Public Misconduct, Diversion, State Pension of $4900/month
The fallout from drug use by former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner continues as many of the criminal cases over which he presided while using drugs are challenged.
Citing Judge Baumgartner's impairment, retrials have already been granted to the four defendants convicted in the 2007 torture-murder deaths of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom.
A TBI probe into alleged drug use by Baumgartner began over a year ago. Al Schmutzer, a former East Tennessee DA, was eventually appointed as special prosecutor.
A plea deal was announced on March 10, 2011. Baumgartner pled guilty but was granted judicial diversion by Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood. With diversion, the sentence was suspended and Baumgartner was placed on probation for two years. If Baumgartner remains clean during the probation period, his record will then be wiped clean. Click here.
The diversion and the ability to wipe the slate clean cleared the way for him to draw a state pension. On March 11, 2011, one day after the plea deal was entered, Baumgartner began drawing a state pension of $4,900/month.
Judge Blackwood, who admitted that he did not read the entire TBI file at the time he graned diversion, granted new trials to the four individuals who were convicted in the Christian-Newsom torture-murder deaths. Click here and here.
The Board of Professional Responsibility disbarred Baumgartner. The BPR file is here..
The redacted TBI file is here.
As all try to distance themselves from this travesty, Schmutzer claims that he was stunned by the diversion. Click here.
A defense attorney who is trying to get a retrial for his client, a convicted child-rapist, has asked the Knox District Attorney's office to step aside since employees of the DA's office were interviewed during the Baumgartner investigation and some may have/should have known of Baumgartner's impairment. Click here.
One certainty at this point is that more convictions will be appealed and more "what did you know and when did you know it" questions will be asked.
Citing Judge Baumgartner's impairment, retrials have already been granted to the four defendants convicted in the 2007 torture-murder deaths of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom.
A TBI probe into alleged drug use by Baumgartner began over a year ago. Al Schmutzer, a former East Tennessee DA, was eventually appointed as special prosecutor.
A plea deal was announced on March 10, 2011. Baumgartner pled guilty but was granted judicial diversion by Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood. With diversion, the sentence was suspended and Baumgartner was placed on probation for two years. If Baumgartner remains clean during the probation period, his record will then be wiped clean. Click here.
The diversion and the ability to wipe the slate clean cleared the way for him to draw a state pension. On March 11, 2011, one day after the plea deal was entered, Baumgartner began drawing a state pension of $4,900/month.
Judge Blackwood, who admitted that he did not read the entire TBI file at the time he graned diversion, granted new trials to the four individuals who were convicted in the Christian-Newsom torture-murder deaths. Click here and here.
The Board of Professional Responsibility disbarred Baumgartner. The BPR file is here..
The redacted TBI file is here.
As all try to distance themselves from this travesty, Schmutzer claims that he was stunned by the diversion. Click here.
A defense attorney who is trying to get a retrial for his client, a convicted child-rapist, has asked the Knox District Attorney's office to step aside since employees of the DA's office were interviewed during the Baumgartner investigation and some may have/should have known of Baumgartner's impairment. Click here.
One certainty at this point is that more convictions will be appealed and more "what did you know and when did you know it" questions will be asked.
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