By David in TN (4:04 p.m.)

Judge Mischief's (Baumgartner) betrayal was far worse than we ever suspected. When attending the Coleman trial I saw the judge nod off at least once, and he sometimes seemed out of it.[Special judge grants new trials for torture-slaying defendants, cites Baumgartner's conduct,  Knoxville News Sentinel, December 1, 2011]

It must be remembered that Baumgartner went far out of his way to favor the defendants when picking the jury pool. Cobbins and Coleman had Nashville juries, Thomas’ was from Chattanooga, and Davidson insisted on Knox County. [N.S.: That is why Davidson got the sentenced to death. The other juries were stacked with racist blacks, which is why Baumgartner chose those jurisdictions for jury-shopping.] He probably won't next time.

The prosecutors, Takisha Fitzgerald especially, were sharper on the evidence with each succeeding trial.

See The Knoxville Horror: Crime, Race, The Media, And "Anti-Racism", By Nicholas Stix on October 31, 2007 and more Knoxville Horror coverage here.