Courts Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Rocky Top woman charged with three counts of first-degree murder

Posted at 12:59 pm March 20, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The criminal homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, left, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Christy Viola Comer, 38, of Rocky Top, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of J.C. Copeland, an 83-year-old man, during an alleged robbery in August. Comer, left, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A Rocky Top woman has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of an 83-year-old man during an alleged robbery in August.

Christy Viola Comer, 38, faces one count of first-degree murder for the premeditated and intentional killing of J.C. Copeland, according to an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on March 5.

Comer faces two more charges of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Copeland while committing two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, according to the indictment.

The five-count indictment also charged Comer with those two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Comer took Copeland’s property violently through the use of a deadly weapon, and she entered Copeland’s home without permission, intending to commit a felony, according to the indictment.

Comer has an arraignment scheduled for the five felony charges on March 29 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]

(For members) Man sentenced to 35 years in assaults against women

Posted at 2:33 pm March 7, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

CLINTON—A Clinton man was sentenced to 35 years in prison when he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault in a series of assaults that involved four female victims in three cases.

One of the victims, a grandmother in her 70s, was hit in the face with a crowbar and had a fractured skull and teeth knocked out, according to facts cited in Anderson County Criminal Court during the plea agreement hearing in Clinton on Wednesday.

The defendant, Jason Bradley Braden, 30, was ordered to serve 100 percent of his 35-year sentence.

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Mental illness & capital punishment to be discussed Tuesday

Posted at 7:27 pm February 4, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Sarah Graham McGee

Mental illness and capital punishment will be discussed during a lunch in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Sarah Graham McGee, statewide coordinator for the Tennessee Alliance for the Severe Mental Illness Exclusion, or TASMIE, a press release said. TASMIE is a coalition of mental health advocates and other organizations that are educating Tennesseans about their concerns with sentencing those who have severe mental illness to death, the press release said.

The program is for Lunch with the League on Tuesday, February 5. The meeting is scheduled from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear Cromwell’s appeal

Posted at 1:13 pm January 29, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of a criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who is now 69 and was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court two years ago after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015. Cromwell is pictured above during a hearing in a Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a separate case involving 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of the criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted of homicide after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015.

Cromwell, who is now 69, had been convicted of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court at the end of a three-day trial in February 2017.

But in July 2018, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville said Cromwell is eligible for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges. The court cited misleading and confusing jury instructions. The aggravated assault convictions, which were reversed by the appeals court, had helped to add seven years to Cromwell’s sentence.

The court upheld Cromwell’s one conviction of reckless vehicular homicide and his five-year sentence on that charge.

In August, Cromwell appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. [Read more…]

Man charged with aggravated child abuse

Posted at 11:22 pm January 26, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Brady Hutton

The Anderson County Grand Jury has indicted Brady Daniel Hutton, 27, on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect after a child who is less than eight years old was reported to have had serious injuries.

Hutton was arrested at his work last week by the United States Marshals Service and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, a press release said.

Before his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department had received a referral from the Department of Children’s Services on October 24 about a severe child abuse complaint they received from the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital staff in Knoxville, the press release said. At the hospital, Hutton was interviewed by DCS and ACSD Detective Darrell Slater, and it was determined there was enough probable cause to present the case to a grand jury, the press release said. [Read more…]

(For members) Testimony: Defendant in homicide case had planned to rob man

Posted at 2:41 pm January 24, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.

The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.

Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.

Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.

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(For members) Five ORPD officers injured in fight with defendant

Posted at 3:46 pm January 10, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Five Oak Ridge Police Department officers were injured in a fight with a defendant on Saturday, a man was held against his will by the defendant, and officers used a Taser on the defendant more than once, police said.

The 39-year-old defendant is now charged with five counts of aggravated assault on an officer and aggravated kidnapping, among other charges.

It’s not the first time the man has been accused of assaulting a police officer. In September, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in a previous case.

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Homicide case ends when defendant dies

Posted at 12:19 am January 5, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Christy-Duncan-Memorial-Oak-Ridge-Turnpike-May-10-2016

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May 2016 ended when the defendant, Vickie Gay Gilmore, died in 2018. A memorial to Christy Duncan, the woman who died in the three-vehicle crash, was set up on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash in Oak Ridge ended when the defendant died.

The case against Vickie Gay Gilmore, 64, had been pending in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. In July, another evaluation was ordered at the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga. Gilmore was to be evaluated for her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense). She had been found to be capable of adequately helping in her defense in an earlier evaluation at Moccasin Bend in 2016, but a later evaluation by a doctor produced contrary findings, according to an April 2018 order for a new competency evaluation.

The new evaluation order in July was stayed, or delayed, in September because of Gilmore’s deteriorating health and her inability to travel.

The charges against her were dismissed in a judgement dated October 9 and filed in November. [Read more…]

Updated: Woman charged with homicide in child’s death after crash

Posted at 3:07 pm January 2, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Fatal-Crash-Memorial-Lafayette-Drive-Emory-Valley-Road-Jan-15-2017-Slider

Oak Ridge Police Department officers started a memorial with stuffed animals for a child killed in a fatal two-vehicle crash at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive on Friday evening, Jan. 13, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 7 p.m.

A second person has been charged with homicide in the death of a young boy in a traffic crash in Oak Ridge in January 2017.

Jason Robert Braden III, 3, died in the two-vehicle crash, which injured at least three other people and was considered a mass casualty event. It was reported at about 5:20 p.m. Friday, January 13, 2017, at the intersection of Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive.

In March 2018, Oak Ridge Today reported that an Anderson County man, Jason Robert Braden II, 25, had been charged, after the crash, in an 11-count indictment that included vehicular homicide by intoxication. The other charges against Braden included vehicular homicide by recklessness, four counts of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle) is involved, driving under the influence, driving without a license, speeding, and violation of the child restraint law.

That case is still pending in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. The homicide and assault charges are felonies, while the driving offenses are misdemeanors.

The second person, Ashley Marie Ann Braden, 23, was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on December 4. She was charged with a single felony count of criminally negligent homicide. The indictment alleged that Braden engaged in criminally negligent conduct that resulted in the death of Jason Robert Braden III. The indictment does not elaborate on the alleged facts of the case, which is typical for indictments. [Read more…]

Records: Man shot last week has history of family disputes

Posted at 1:30 am January 2, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Clinton man who was shot during a dispute with his son last week, reportedly over the positioning of a floodlight, has had other disputes with family members, including another one involving a firearm, according to Anderson County court records.

In one of the previous cases, the man who was shot, Terry Lee Crawford, 61, allegedly vandalized his sister’s house with a tractor in October, also because of a floodlight, the court records said. That case is pending in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

Before the alleged vandalism this year, Crawford had pleaded guilty to an assault against his sister and another victim in 2015—that case involved a firearm—and to an attempted assault against his son in 2016.

The incidents have involved three homes plus Crawford’s, all on Lee Lane in west Clinton, court records said.

Besides those cases, there is an indictment pending against Crawford for driving under the influence, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving.

It’s not clear what charges might be filed after last week’s shooting. Crawford was taken to the hospital after the shooting. He was booked into the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Monday. But affidavits, which include specific charges and brief descriptions of alleged crimes, were not available on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the day after the shooting, the district attorney general’s office called Crawford a “danger to society” and asked that his bond be revoked or increased in two of the previous cases. The motion appears to have been successful, at least for now; Crawford’s bond has been set at $1.7 million, an unusually large bond, and he remained in custody on Tuesday night, according to Anderson County jail records.

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Man sentenced to 30 years in Oak Ridge shooting

Posted at 3:08 pm November 8, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

William Antwon Mollette

Note: This story was last updated at 4:45 p.m.

CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man was sentenced to the maximum 30 years in prison in an attempted murder case as part of a plea agreement on Thursday after a shooting last year left a woman with life-threatening injuries.

William Antwon Mollette, 44, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Thursday.

Mollette, who has a prior felony conviction in Alabama, received the maximum 25 years on the attempted first-degree murder charge, a Class A felony, and he received the maximum five years on the firearm possession charge, a Class D felony. The two sentences are to be served consecutively for a total 30-year sentence.

The victim of the shooting, Cathy Griffin, was agreeable to the 30-year sentence, Tony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in Anderson County, told Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge.

Griffin read a statement in court during the plea agreement hearing. She described being shot and stalked by Mollette at a home on Walsh Lane last year, having her lungs collapse and blood stream from her abdomen, and knowing that she, a nurse, was dying. [Read more…]

Rocky Top man charged with child abuse after infant found unresponsive

Posted at 4:14 pm October 7, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Cameron Tommy Beard

A Rocky Top man has been charged with aggravated child abuse and child abuse after an infant who was reported to have a brain injury was found unresponsive on Old Lake City Highway in Anderson County in March, authorities said.

Cameron Tommy Beard, 19, was arrested by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after he was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton, District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release Friday. The indictment of Beard charged him with aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child less than eight years old, and two counts of child abuse of a child less than eight, Clark said. [Read more…]

Rocky Top woman charged with three counts of first-degree murder

(For members) Man sentenced to 35 years in assaults against women

Mental illness & capital punishment to be discussed Tuesday

Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear Cromwell’s appeal

Man charged with aggravated child abuse

(For members) Testimony: Defendant in homicide case had planned to rob man

(For members) Five ORPD officers injured in fight with defendant

Homicide case ends when defendant dies

Updated: Woman charged with homicide in child’s death after crash

Records: Man shot last week has history of family disputes

Man sentenced to 30 years in Oak Ridge shooting

Rocky Top man charged with child abuse after infant found unresponsive

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