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State asks to revoke or raise bond for robbery suspect

Posted at 8:09 pm January 20, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A prosecutor has asked an Anderson County judge to revoke or raise bond for a man charged with a robbery in Oak Ridge six years ago after he allegedly assaulted two deputies at the Anderson County jail in December.

Prosecutors have offered reasons for the delay in the robbery case, including the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes in attorneys, and a failure to appear.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Premium Content Tagged With: aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Sheriff's Office, Ann Coria, Charles Braden, COVID-19, Dominique Leshawn Gordon, Don Elledge, Nicholas Davis, robbery, Sarah Keith, Thomas Slaughter, Timothy Perry, Tony Craighead

Lead trial court prosecutor retires

Posted at 5:48 pm January 9, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above are Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark, left, and Deputy District Attorney General Anthony Craighead. (Photo courtesy Dave Clark)

Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in Anderson County, has retired.

“This week marks the well-deserved but bittersweet retirement of my friend and crime fighting partner, Deputy District Attorney General Tony Craighead,” Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said on Saturday. “Tony has been fighting for justice and victims for 30 years in Tennessee, and for the last eight years, he has been our leading trial court prosecutor here in Anderson County.

“The job of being a chief law enforcement officer for a portion of our state is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility. The pressure, emotional, physical and psychological burden of the responsibility for resolving the homicides, child abuse, home burglaries and child pornography cases collectively wear on one’s soul. Tony has carried that load for all of us for a long time.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anthony Craighead, Dave Clark, deputy district attorney general, Sarah Keith, Seventh Judicial District, Tony Craighead, trial court prosecutor

Bond reduced for wife charged with murder

Posted at 4:17 pm November 11, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Samantha Hendley

Bond has been reduced for a woman charged with murder for the death of her husband in Oak Ridge in 2014.

Bond for Samantha Anne Hendley, 36, was reduced from $1 million to $450,000 in an order issued November 7 by Senior Judge Don R. Ash. If Hendley is able to be released on bond, she is required to wear a global positioning system (GPS) monitoring device, the order said.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Premium Content Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Bond, Don R. Ash, first-degree murder, Matthew Rogers, Ryan Spitzer, Samantha Anne Hendley, Thomas T.S. Thrasher, Tony Craighead

Statutory rape, misconduct charges dismissed against former officer after probation

Posted at 5:42 pm July 18, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Charges against Cassen Jackson-Garrison, right, a former Oak Ridge Police Department police officer, were dismissed this year after two years of supervised probation. Jackson-Garrison had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017. His attorney, Greg Isaacs, left, said Jackson-Garrison had accepted responsibility for the allegations, and he compared Jackson-Garrison’s childhood story to the one portrayed in the movie “The Blind Side.” The probation was a judicial diversion, allowing the felony charges to be dismissed if Jackson-Garrison complied with the terms and conditions. Jackson-Garrison and Isaacs are pictured above during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After a two-year probation, charges were dismissed this year against a former Oak Ridge Police Department officer who had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017.

His attorney successfully asked for judicial diversion for Cassen Jackson-Garrison, 36, more than three years ago, although the state opposed it. The judicial diversion gave Jackson-Garrison, a former star football player, the opportunity to have the felony charges dismissed and expunged, or removed from his record, at the end of his probationary period. But he had to comply with the terms and conditions. The two-year supervised probation ended in December 2019.

 

Charges against Cassen Jackson-Garrison, standing at right, a former Oak Ridge Police Department police officer, were dismissed this year after two years of supervised probation. Jackson-Garrison had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017. His attorney, Greg Isaacs, standing next to Jackson-Garrison, said Jackson-Garrison had accepted responsibility for the allegations, and he compared his client’s childhood story to the one portrayed in the movie “The Blind Side.” The probation was a judicial diversion, allowing the felony charges to be dismissed if Jackson-Garrison complied with the terms and conditions. Jackson-Garrison and Isaacs are pictured above during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 12, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

After a two-year probation, charges were dismissed this year against a former Oak Ridge Police Department officer who had agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct in 2017.

His attorney successfully asked for judicial diversion for Cassen Jackson-Garrison, 36, more than three years ago, although the state opposed it. The judicial diversion gave Jackson-Garrison, a former star football player, the opportunity to have the felony charges dismissed and expunged, or removed from his record, at the end of his probationary period. But he had to comply with the terms and conditions. The two-year probation ended in December 2019.

The charges were dismissed in January 2021, after Jackson-Garrison completed the terms of his diversion sentence.

The plea agreement has been previously reported, but the dismissal of the charges has not been. The charges appear to have now been expunged from Jackson-Garrison’s record, at least the portion that is publicly available.

Jackson-Garrison surrendered his P.O.S.T. (Peace Officer Standards Training) certification for police officers as part of his plea agreement, but he will not be placed on the sex offender registry.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Slider Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County grand jury, Cassen Jackson-Garrison, Dave Clark, Don Elledge, Gregory Isaacs, judicial diversion, Oak Ridge Police Department, official misconduct, ORPD, plea agreement, sentencing hearing, statutory rape, supervised probation, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tony Craighead

Appeals court upholds attempted murder conviction

Posted at 2:11 pm July 14, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Curtis-Isabell-McKinley-McGee-Sentencing-Sept-9-2019
McKinnley Earl McGee, 51, of Oak Ridge, who is pictured above at right, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, for an attempted murder during a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said. At left is defense attorney Curtis Isabell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld an attempted murder conviction against an Oak Ridge man who received the maximum 20-year prison sentence for a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she reportedly would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment.

McKinnley McGee was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury two years ago, after a one-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in July 2019. He was convicted of stabbing and trying to kill Machel Elaine Avery on Utica Circle in Oak Ridge on January 12, 2018.

Curtis-Isabell-McKinley-McGee-Sentencing-Sept-9-2019

McKinnley Earl McGee, of Oak Ridge, who is pictured above at right, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, for an attempted murder during a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said. At left is defense attorney Curtis Isabell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld an attempted murder conviction against an Oak Ridge man who received the maximum 20-year prison sentence for a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she reportedly would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment.

McKinnley McGee was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury two years ago, after a one-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in July 2019. He was convicted of stabbing and trying to kill Machel Elaine Avery on Utica Circle in Oak Ridge on January 12, 2018.

McGee was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison in September that year. That was based in part on his extensive criminal record, which includes at least eight felony convictions and seven misdemeanors dating back 30 years in Anderson County and California, according to court records and information provided during the sentencing hearing.

In his appeal, McGee had questioned whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction for attempted second-degree murder. He argued that prosecutors had failed to prove that he acted in a way that was intended and reasonably certain to cause Avery’s death, the appeals court said.

But in an opinion published April 9, the appeals court found that the evidence was sufficient. The opinion has not been previously reported.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Slider, Tennessee Tagged With: aggravated assault, Alan E. Glenn, Anderson County Criminal Court, Appeals Court, attempted murder, attempted second-degree murder, Camille R. McMullen, Christopher Wallace, Curtis Isabell, James Curwood Witt Jr., Machel Elaine Avery, Matthew Johnston, McKinnley McGee, Oak Ridge Police Department, Renee W. Turner, Roy Frank Roberts, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Tony Craighead, Tracey Vought Williams

For members: Man sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder

Posted at 1:58 am September 10, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

McKinley Earl McGee, 51, of Oak Ridge, who is pictured above at right, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, for an attempted murder during a stabbing last year that injured a woman so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said. At left is defense attorney Curtis Isabell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man who has at least 15 criminal convictions was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison on Monday for an attempted murder during a stabbing last year that injured a woman so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said.

Before he was sentenced Monday, McKinley Earl McGee, 51, had been convicted after a one-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton in July. At the end of that trial, the 12-person jury deliberated for about one hour before finding McGee guilty of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault that resulted in serious bodily injury.

 
Curtis-Isabell-McKinley-McGee-Sentencing-Sept-9-2019

An Oak Ridge man who has at least 15 prior criminal convictions was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison on Monday for an attempted murder during a stabbing last year that injured a women so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man who has at least 15 prior criminal convictions was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison on Monday for an attempted murder during a stabbing last year that injured a women so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County Criminal Court, attempted murder, attempted second-degree murder, Brittney L. Brown, Christopher Wallace, Curtis Isabell, Dave Clark, Don Elledge, Machel Elaine Avery, McKinley Earl McGee, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, sentencing hearing, stabbing, Tennessee Department of Correction, Tony Craighead

Oak Ridge man convicted of attempted murder

Posted at 1:07 pm July 11, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

McKinley Earl McGee

An Oak Ridge man who had been accused of stabbing his girlfriend and trying to kill her last year was convicted of attempted murder this week.

McKinley Earl McGee, 50, was convicted after a jury trial that started Tuesday morning in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark announced the conviction in a press release on Wednesday. The 12-person jury deliberated about 58 minutes before returning with its verdict, Clark said.

McGee was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, Clark said.

McGee was convicted of stabbing and trying to kill Machel Elaine Avery on Utica Circle in Oak Ridge on January 12, 2018, Clark said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, attempted murder, attempted second-degree murder, Chris Wallace, Curtis W. Isabell, Dave Clark, Donald Elledge, Machel Elaine Avery, McKinley Earl McGee, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, Seventh Judicial Distirct, stabbing, Tony Craighead

For members: Man sentenced to 10 years in shooting death of girlfriend’s mother

Posted at 11:14 am May 18, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

William James McMillan

CLINTON—An Andersonville man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday when he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his girlfriend’s mother four years ago.

The charge against William James McMillan, 52, was reduced from second-degree murder, a Class A felony, to voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony, as part of the plea deal.

William James McMillan

An Andersonville man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday when he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his girlfriend’s mother four years ago.

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Andersonville, Courts, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Tennessee, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Don Elledge, Gregory P. Isaacs, Karen Zahrobsky, Lone Mountain Road, plea agreement, plea deal, Seventh Judicial District, shooting death, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tony Craighead, voluntary manslaughter, William James McMillan

DA: Granddaughter in murder case was malnourished, smothered

Posted at 10:24 am May 14, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Valerie Stenson

The young granddaughter who died in Oak Ridge in 2011 was malnourished and had been smothered, District Attorney General Dave Clark said Friday, after the child’s grandmother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last Tuesday.

Emergency workers and law enforcement officers responded to a 911 call at Teller Village Apartments around 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, 2011. The grandmother, Valerie Stenson, now 54, was trying to revive her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, Clark said in a press release Friday.

“An autopsy reveled that the child was malnourished, and the cause of death was smothering,” said Clark, who is DA in the Seventh Judicial District (Anderson County).

Manhattan was two years and nine months old when she died, Clark said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: aggravated child abuse, Alexander Brown, Anderson County Criminal Court, child abuse, Dave Clark, death penalty, district attorney general, Donald R. Elledge, first-degree murder, Manhattan Inman, Oak Ridge Police Department, plea deal, second-degree murder, Seventh Judicial District, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Thomas Slaughter, Tony Craighead, Valerie Stenson

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

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…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, attempted first-degree murder, attempted murder, Cathy Griffin, Don Elledge, Marvell Moore, Oak Ridge Police Department, plea agreement, possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony, Tom Marshall, Tony Craighead, University of Tennessee Medical Center, UT Medical Center, William Antwon Mollette

Man pleads guilty to reckless homicide in death of father after argument

Posted at 8:18 am November 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

William Brent James

William Brent James

William Brent James

A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless homicide in the death of his father after an argument in an Oak Ridge parking lot in 2014.

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Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County grand jury, best interest plea, Don Elledge, H. Daniel Forrester III, John Criswell, Kevin Craig, Oak Ridge Police Department, reckless homicide, Seventh Judicial District, Tony Craighead, William Brent James, William Michael "Mike" James

DA: Man accused of shooting into Throttle Down convicted of reckless endangerment

Posted at 1:38 pm August 19, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Gordon Scott Katz

Gordon Scott Katz

 

An Oak Ridge man who had been accused of shooting into the former Throttle Down Tavern while the business was occupied in July 2015 was convicted of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon after a jury trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Thursday, authorities said.

A jury of 12 Anderson County residents found Gordon Scott Katz, 45, guilty after the one-day trial on Thursday and about 45 minutes of deliberation, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release on Friday.

Katz is scheduled to be sentenced October 9 by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge, Clark said.

Witnesses testified that Katz and a companion had been asked to leave the Throttle Down Tavern on Warehouse Road on July 26, 2015, before Katz was accused of firing shots into it, Clark said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County grand jury, Dave Clark, Don Elledge, Gordon Scott Katz, Kevin Craig, Oak Ridge Police Department, reckless endangerment, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark, Throttle Down Tavern, Tony Craighead

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