Trial in the Channon Christian - Chris Newsom murders a year away

Eager to find out if the four major defendants in the Channon Christian / Chris Newsom murders are as guilty as they seem? Well, you've got a year to wait.

Twenty-four year old Letalvis Cobbins will lead this merry band of (alleged) rapists and murderers to court on May 12, 2008. His girlfriend, nineteen year old Vanessa Coleman will come next (June 16th), followed by the alleged ringleader, twenty-five year old Lemaricus Davidson (July 14), and the state will conclude with the case against twenty-four year old George Thomas, whose trial begins on August 11th. The fifth defendant, charged only as an accessory after the fact, is, according to Jamie Satterfield of KnoxNews (News Sentinel), likely to be in court later this year.

I'm no lawyer, but I really don't understand the long delay...they've got all the physical evidence from the bodies, of course, and have multiple confessions as these four brainiacs have done nothing but sell each other out since they were apprehended back in January. I'm guessing that this will spur more conspiracy discussion; if they drag the wait out long enough, we'll just forget about it, right? Wrong. We're watching now, and we'll be watching in 2008. I'm sure commentary (including my own) will slow down along with the news, but we'll be back - they can count on that. Maybe this is just standard operating procedure...like I said, I'm no lawyer and I sure don't plan on becoming one. I did, however, do a little research on these crimes in regard to capital punishment. When considering current circumstances in relation to Tennessee law, it does seem that prosecutors are aiming for the death penalty - not a surprise. Several of the charges against the four standing accused are "aggravated" offenses, which the prosecution can use to push for death. Further to that, three of the four defendants have lawyers who are qualified to assist in death penalty cases - and all four have two lawyers, which Tennessee requires in death penalty cases. Unfortunately for the families, should the trials result in a verdict of death the defendants are likely to sit on the Tennessee death row for years, perhaps even decades. State law requires review by the Court of Criminal Appeals and the state Supreme Court. There will, of course, also be appeals, delays, red tape...if convicted, we the taxpayers will be footing the bill for all of that. Nice.

Okay, people - keep checking back. I will continue to comb through the government documents and news reports and post what I feel to be the most pertinent information right here. I also encourage you to flag Satterfield's reports as s/he (Jamie...can't be sure) has been doing a great job of covering this case so far.

Other than that, keep following the case; we need to make sure it's known that inbred white racists in the south aren't the only ones paying attention.