KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The special judge who ordered retrials for four people convicted of torturing and killing a Knoxville couple has refused to step aside.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported prosecutor Leland Price argued at a hearing Monday that Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood should recuse himself because he couldn't dispassionately view the actions of the judge he replaced.
Prosecutors didn't fight a new trial for one of the four convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
But the state opposed Blackwood's decision to order new trials for the others on the grounds that Baumgartner's addiction to prescription drugs cast doubt on his handling of their cases.
Blackwood rejected the prosecution motion on Monday and said he would issue a written opinion later.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
