KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The attorney for a man sentenced to death for the torture slayings of a young Knoxville couple claims the jury spent the majority of its sentencing deliberations singing worship songs and reading Bible verses rather than discussing the case.
A motion filed on behalf of Lemaricus Davidson was recently unsealed along with pages of handwritten hymns and praise songs used by jurors during Davidson's 2009 trial. His attorney says the impromptu worship service violated Davidson's rights to a fair trial, due process and impartial jury.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Senior Judge Walter Kurtz set a Jan. 10 hearing to hear the motion for a new trial.
Davidson was sentenced to death in the 2007 kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Channon Christian and 23-year-old Christopher Newsom.
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