We’ve added the U.S. District Court to our coverage starting this week. We’ll be reviewing cases from the Eastern Division – from Chattanooga through Knoxville to Bristol.

Who will win the KBA Ethics Bowl?

What happens when you mix legal ethics, Taylor Swift and family-feud-style trivia? You get perhaps the most fun continuing education program around: Ethics Bowl XVIII: T-Swift Eras Tour – KBA’s Version!

This is set for Friday, December 6, 2024, from 1-4:15 p.m. in the City County Building, main assembly room.

The bored and lonely can come to cheer on their favorite team (each representing a Taylor Swift album):

  • Debut: Taylor Forrester & Emily Taylor
  • Red: Loretta Cravens & Laura Metcalf
  • 1989: Hon. William Ailor & Bryce Fitzgerald
  • Lover: Hon. Tyler Caviness & Christy Caviness
  • Folklore: Kelly Street & Edward “Tripp” White III
  • The Tortured Poet Department: Angelia Nystrom & Robert Pryor

Sarah Winningham Keith is now an assistant attorney general in Anderson County. Here she is a bit younger, pictured with her dad, state Rep. Les Winningham; House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh; and her twin sister, Jennifer Winningham.

 

Members of the Knoxville Bar Association on the KBA annual fall hike, organized by the Wellness and Professionalism committees.

Johnson City police accused of altering, concealing evidence in new allegations

Up the road in Johnson City, Tennessee, the city police department, a former chief and the city itself are being sued by women who say over a four-year period their claims of sexual assault at the hands of a prominent Johnson City business owner were disregarded by the police department. The women accuse police of “unconstitutional conduct that shocks the conscience.”

The women are represented by attorneys Vanessa Baeher-Jones, with California-based Advocates for Survivors of Abuse, Heather Moore Collins with Brentwood, Tenn.-based HMC Civil Rights Law and San Francisco attorney Elizabeth Kramer. Anita Wadhwani of TN Lookout reports the story here.

The story is long and the alleged crimes are sordid. The defendants deny the charges.

Feds make arrest for sexual exploitation of children

A Chattanooga man was arrested November 14, 2024, by agents of the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). An arraignment was set for Friday, Nov. 22, and a trial date will be set later.

Details of the charges are outlined in the arrest warrant and supporting affidavit, which are filed as public records in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga. More information here.

Two convicted of rape in South Knoxville

Charme Allen

DA Charme Allen said prosecutors in the Major Crimes Unit obtained convictions against two men who raped a woman at a residence in South Knoxville. The victim reported that she, another woman and the two men took an Uber to the residence on Woodlawn Pike after meeting at a West Knox nightclub.

Shortly after arriving, both men raped the victim. The victim reported the rape within an hour and was given a sexual assault examination. One man pleaded guilty to rape and a separate drug trafficking case and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The other man was convicted at trial of two counts of aggravated rape. Sentencing is set for January 10, 2025, where he faces 15 to 25 years in prison. The four-day trial was led by ADAs Rachel Hill and Jeannine Guzolek. More info here.