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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Judge delays second torture-slaying Christian-Newsom trial

Right: Lemaricus Davidson, smug, arrogant criminal
By Jamie Satterfield
Posted September 29, 2009

KNOXVILLE - A Knox County judge this morning delayed the trial of torture-slaying alleged ringleader Lemaricus Davidson for a week to make way for new DNA testing.

Judge Richard Baumgartner set a new trial date of Oct. 12. The trial was originally scheduled to begin Oct. 5.

Davidson and three others are charged with carjacking, kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing University of Tennessee student Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, in January 2007.

Jury selection, however, will continue.

The judge blocked the public from hearing arguments over funding for new DNA testing...

The law allows defendants to seek funding in private hearings in order not to reveal trial strategy to the prosecution. The News Sentinel objected to no avail.

...the cost of the DNA testing will become public when the defense files its bill with the state...At question is the mystery of whose sperm is on Christian's panties, how quickly the testing could occur and how much it will cost.

Pressed for a price tag on a sophisticated DNA test sought by Davidson's defense team, attorney David Eldridge hesitated Monday long enough for Baumgartner to make that conclusion.
"It's a shocking amount," he said, with a laugh.

Eldridge said he isn't sure of the figure yet. Prosecutor Takisha Fitzgerald said the lab would probably charge a fee for each suspect whose DNA is tested. And, there is what Eldridge called a "maximum rush fee" charged for speedy service.

It has been two years since police seized Christian's underwear from Davidson's Chipman Street house, where she and Newsom were held captive in January 2007 before they were killed.
But it was only last month that prosecutors sought DNA testing from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. That test showed the presence of sperm, but the TBI was unable to isolate a DNA profile. Because they couldn't separate the profiles, because she was raped by every man in the house...so pay the bill and get on with it.

Eldridge and co-counsel Doug Trant, who already were seeking a trial delay to have the new DNA testing examined by a defense expert, filed a motion Monday asking Baumgartner to approve funding for specialized testing that could isolate a profile, Eldridge said.

It appears only two labs in the United States can do that type of testing.

The judge, for the second time since the new DNA testing was disclosed, questioned why the state waited two years to test the panties.

"We can't send all evidence confiscated to the TBI and say 'test everything,' " prosecutor Leland Price said. "It's just overwhelming what we collected in this case."
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It seems irrelevant at this point whether his sperm was on her panties. He certainly ejaculated everywhere else on her body. This person is a piece of shit--his own family said as much during the trial of his half-brother Letalvis Cobbins last month.
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The simple fact that he wants to dispute the charges at all is ridiculous. There was no monetary gain for these attacks, no retaliation for past wrongs. He just wanted to do something mean and evil. And he wanted to involve Cobbins and Thomas so they would be under his control--so he would "have something on them."
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In my opinion, Davidson wanted to stay in Knox County for the trial because of all of the racial accusations that were thrown around after the deaths of Christian and Newsom. In his little world, a Knoxville slum, he became a misguided cause for many black people in the area, who tried to blame the victims for a barrage of stupid theories. Little did he know that those idiots would not be sitting on his jury. So far in jury selection, his peers appear to be mostly white, educated and gainfully employed Knoxvillians.
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