I was stunned yesterday to learn more of the extent to which Knox County Judge Richard Baumgartner’s addiction to pain pills impacted his behavior on and off the bench. I will have MUCH more to say about this developing story as I have time in the days ahead, but for now here are my preliminary reactions.
Point 1 – If Knox County DA Randy Nichols suspected or knew that Judge Baumgartner’s substance abuse problem was important enough that Mr. Nichols attempted a personal intervention, Mr. Nichols was obligated by law and professional ethics to directly report his concerns to the state judiciary without delay or obfuscation. I have seen no info suggesting that Mr. Nichols did that. Instead, he stood by and let Judge Baumgartner continue to oversee our county’s drug court and major criminal cases.
Point 2 – Christopher Gibson, the drug dealer who supplied Judge Baumgartner with a great many of his pills in the period before TBI busted the case open, and who had the Judge in his home at least 100 times, claimed a number of things in his own court pleadings, all of which now appear to have been confirmed as accurate. But Gibson further alleged in the very same court documents that Judge Baumgartner had told him that prior to Gibson becoming his supplier, it had been “law enforcement” providing the Judge with illegal Rx narcotics. No one in the media has dug into that specific, very serious allegation. Why not? Clearly, there’s a much, much bigger story here of a snakepit within certain Knox County agencies. Judge Baumgartner did not suddenly become a hard core opiate addict who was willing to use the defendants in his own drug court to procure drugs and provide sex. He’d clearly been getting these narcotics from other sources for some period of time before Gibson became his dealer, and according to Gibson, the Judge said that “law enforcement” had been his source.
Point 3 – According to WBIR, the semi-redacted but now unsealed TBI file on Judge Baumgartner also reveals that one of the prosecutors currently employed in Knox County DA Randy Nichols’ office personally witnessed Judge Baumgartner weaving erratically in his vehicle, almost causing an accident. Yet while this publicly employed member of the Bar clearly knew who the dangerously impaired driver was, there is no info indicating that she called 911 to get the judge off the road before he killed someone, nor is there any information that she even reported what she’d observed to police or the state judiciary after the incident. Did she report what she’d seen to her boss, Mr. Nichols? if so, what did he tell her in response, and what did he do with the information?
UPDATE: Here’s how the News Sentinel characterizes the incident , which we now learn actually took place DURING THE CHRISTIAN & NEWSOM TRIAL, and involved the two specific Knox County prosecutors trying the case in Judge Baumgartner’s courtroom. Try and read this without becoming outraged at the inaction on the part of the two prosecutors (did not call 911, did not call police, did not report to state judiciary), and District Attorney Nichols (did not report to anyone in authority).
From the News Sentinel: “In August 2009, Baumgartner traveled to Davidson County to select a jury to try Letalvis Cobbins, the first of four suspects set to be tried in the January 2007 torture slayings of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23. Prosecutors Leland Price and TaKisha Fitzgerald were traveling behind the judge on Interstate 40 after jury selection was over, and everyone involved was headed back to Knoxville. Blackwood said they saw Baumgartner’s vehicle weaving “all over the road,” nearly causing a crash. The pair called Baumgartner’s cellphone but he didn’t answer. They then called (Judge Baumgartner’s longtime secretary) Judy, who was traveling separately. He answered Judy’s call but refused her request to pull over. ‘He didn’t, and he still didn’t (pull over) until she threatened to call and report him,’ Blackwood said. Word quickly got back to Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols, who went to Baumgartner for an explanation. Baumgartner insisted he was experiencing sleep woes and simply “drank too much wine.”
So even after the Judge admitted drunk driving to Knox County DA Randy Nichols, Mr. Nichols still did nothing? Also, why would the two prosecutors in the car behind Judge Baumgartner not immediately dial 911 when they saw his car weaving and coming close to causing an accident? Why would they call the judge’s cell phone, and then his secretary? So they were concerned enough to call someone, but not concerned enough to call anyone who could immediately get this car and its messed up, dangerous driver off the road? And another question: leaving aside public safety concerns regarding an impaired driver weaving all over the interstate, are there not ethical issues with the two prosecutors in an active murder trial calling the judge’s cell phone directly to discuss anything with him at any time? Wouldn’t that be disallowed under procedural rules of the criminal court system?
It appears that at least two people working as licensed attorneys and members of the Bar within the office of Knox Countyoffice knew or strongly suspected that Judge Baumgartner was District Attorney Randy Nichols KNEW that this judge who held the lives of others in his gavel every day had a significant substance abuse problem. Thus, the odds are high, in my personal opionion, that the top officials within the Office of the Knox County Sheriff had at least some of the same troubling information about the judge. But no one did ANYTHING to protect the integrity of the Knox County judicial system, thus implicitly covering for Judge Baumgartner. As licensed attorneys, the DA and any of his prosecutors who knew or strongly suspected that the judge was sitting on the bench, overseeing criminal and drug diversion cases while impaired himself were clearly OBLIGATED by law and their professional licensure standards to take certain steps. But they did not.
Point 4 – In this April 29, 2010 recorded phone call (written transcript included) between my son’s girlfriend’s mother, indicted drug trafficker Laurie Pelot Gooch and her incarcerated teenage daughter, Ms. Pelot Gooch states that her mother, local politico Barbara Pelot had shared a table with Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “JJ” Jones earlier that same day, and that Barbara Pelot took the Sheriff aside and spoke with him about issues of concern. We’ll never know what that conversation involved, but it seems highly likely that Mrs. Pelot discussed both the fact that her teenage granddaughter was in jail on drug charges, as well as the fact that her teenage granddaughter’s even younger boyfriend had been in the hospital in a coma for the previous 48 hours following a major drug overdose and a physical assault. Given that Mrs. Pelot provably knew that the two people in whose trailer my son had been found near death two days earlier were her adult daughter’s own drug dealers, and that her adult daughter and employee, Laurie Pelot Gooch had even spoken by phone to the two dealers WHILE Henry Granju lay dying inside their trailer (yet did not call 911 or do anything else to save him) {1}, did Barbara Pelot give this important information to the Sheriff when she spoke to him that day so he could act on it as part of his agency’s open investigation into what had happened to Henry? If she did tell him, what did he say and what did he do with the information? We may never know the answers to those questions, but we do know that in the recorded call that day, Barbara Pelot’s daughter, Laurie Pelot Gooch giddlily assured her incarcerated teenage daughter that “Mother” had spoken directly to the Sheriff, and that he had assured her that things with her teenage granbddaughter’s criminal case would be handled in the way she preferred, apparently including moving the teenage granddaughter into a court-run rehab program and out of the general jail population as soon as possible. This rehab program was highly sought after and usually had a lengthy waiting list to get in. Yet Barbara Pelot’s granddaughter was moved into the program within a very short time after this conversation that Laurie Pelot Gooch says that her mother had that day with the Sheriff. And you know who oversaw Knox County’s drug diversion court program at that time? Judge Richard Baumgartner. In fact, as I understand it, he founded it. And you know who has the authority to recommend that prisoners be allowed into the drug diversion program? Sheriff Jones and Knox County DA Randy Nichols. {2}
{1} – This call from the Harper/Houser home to Laurie Pelot Gooch while Henry was dying of a drug overdose was revealed by Laurie Pelot Gooch herself when she spoke to a reporter from Newsweek’s The Daily Beast. You can find Laurie Pelot Gooch’s description of the call at the bottom of the first page of the story that The Daily Beast published about Henry’s case, where Laurie Pelot Gooch is referenced as “an adult family member of Henry’s girlfriend.” Interestingly, no phone records whatsoever for Laurie Pelot Gooch were released in the case file distributed to the media by Knox County authorities when they closed their investigation into the circumstances of my son’s death with no arrests.
{2}: All information from the Knox County Drug Court web site.
NOTE: In another call between Laurie Pelot Gooch and her incarcerated teenage daughter recorded the day before, Ms. Pelot Gooch states that her mother, Barbara Pelot had already called Assistant Knox County DA John Gill to “pull strings” regarding the granddaughter’s case, and the family’s desire to have her moved out of jail and into the highly sought after drug court alternative program. John Gill works directly under Knox County DA Randy Nichols.
Eventually, these dots will be connected in a way that matters.
Count on it.
+++++
UPDATE: Law professor and conservative blogger Glenn Reynolds weighs in on the Baumgartner case and the many questions it raises about the behavior of local members of the Bar, and he specifically questions whether their apparent secret knowledge of Judge Baumgartner’s drug activity (which was ongoing and had not in any way been revealed publicly at the time of my child’s death or for many months thereafter) prevented the Knox County Sheriff and District Attorney from actually going after the pill dealers behind the drugs that killed Henry.
And progressiveTennessee blogger Aunt B is now connecting the dots as well.
Again, I will have a great deal more to say about all of this over at Justice for Henry when both time and specific legal and ongoing investigative constraints allow me to do so.
Before I end this blog post, I want to say that I hope that everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with the parents of Chris Newsom and Channon Christian, who will now be put through judicial hell all over again because of Judge Baumgartner’s actions, as well as by the INaction of those who knew of or suspected that the judge was impaired, but who stood by and did nothing. My heart is just breaking all over again for these families, and I sincerely hope that they are able to get justice not only for what these horrible murderers and rapists did to their children, but now also for what sworn officers of the court have done to them via criminal activity and ethical lapses.
73 Responses to “UPDATED: Questions That Need To Be Asked In the Judge Baumgartner Case”
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This may be a stupid question, but shouldn’t the Dr. who knew he had an addiction should have said anything? Golly, this a big old mess.
I believe it way past getting his pills from a Physician years ago. He was using people in the “system” who were on probation and whose thumb he had over them!
So much more to this just came out 24 hours ago and the community has been rocked by it! My question-why should tax money have to be used to retry all those cases? I do believe Baumgardner holds some fiscal responsibility here on that one financially.
And yes, Katie this is a whole snake pit! My stomach turns for the Christian-Newsome families who have to re-live their whole ordeal. Good God.
Have a good day, Katie!
xo, misha
I thought I read at some point that he doctor shopped, a common practice with drug addicts so any one doctor might not have realized there was an issue
That night get into dr/patient confidentiality issues. It is my understanding that one physician, Dr. Conley, confronted him and then dropped him as a patient. Sounds like that particular doctor did what he could.
Annie, I don’t know whether the Dr. was obligated by law or professional licensure to report. I suspect he was not. However, the reporting obligations for other members of the Bar, or those in law enforcement, are entirely different. – Katie
Snakepit indeed…
This isn’t just a case of a judge who popped pills while on the bench (which is bad enough); this is dirty, dirty, dirty. This will hopefully lay bare the corruption in certain Knoxville offices of law & order, the stench from which wafted up during the “investigation” into Henry’s death.
Wow. Not that this isn’t the exact sort of thing that I suspected throughout your whole long battle, but there it is all laid out. Everyone in any position of power knew at least something and many knew a lot. This wasn’t a one-off thing either, this was years of things that were likely manipulated, favors given and favors called in, etc.
There’s no way that this didn’t touch every thing to do with drugs in the county.
This certainly stinks badly enough to be the thing that we suspected stank at the bottom of the KCSO’s behavior regarding Henry.
Not that there might not be multiple sources of stink.
This is so horrible for the Christian-Newsome families – I can’t stand to think of the hell they have been through – and will now relive.
That said…it can only be a good thing for the future of Knoxville for this finally to be laid open. Knox County clearly needs a massive overhaul of the vast majority of those in power and, hopefully, this will be the story that opens a lot of eyes. (For those that were somehow able to justify the actions in Henry’s case.)
I know about the Dr./ patient confidentiality rule. i was just wondering if it is a circumstance like this if there ever any differences. I feel terrible for everyone this will affect. I know a college girl whose dad is addicted to pain pills. He has had his Dr. license pulled a couple times now and is in the news. It is so awful for the whole family.
This is such a horribly messed up situation! I saw the interview on the news last night with Chris and Channon’s families and I can’t imagine the pain they will have to re-live all because of this dilemma. To force their families, and us all, to dig back into this deep wound is upsetting. I can only hope that these Chipman 4 monsters get what they deserve.
I have Michelle Malkin’s article on this loading on one tab while I’m reading your article. I immediately thought of you when I saw her headline. This is bad, bad, bad, bad.
Wow. Just WOW.
The blame for this mess should be placed directly at the feet of the selfish judge. We get it Katie, you hate Nichols, probably w/ good reason, but don’t blame him for this mess, it’s all on Baumgartner and his “sickness”. He needs to be put in the same jail as the scum who committed these viscious crimes.
Andy:
Just as a drunk driver may suffer from the disease of alcoholism, yet still must be accountable within our system of justice for his or her criminal behavior, Judge Baumgartner clearly suffers from the disease of addiction – and I can feel compassion for him for this – yet he still must be answerable for any illegal behavior. Addiction is a sickness – not even a “sickness” in quotation marks – but a real one. Yet it cannot and should not be a defense against legal accountability for criminal behavior.
Having said that, I do not “hate” Randy Nichols. I have no particular emotional feeling toward him as a human being since I don’t know him personally. As a crime victim’s mother, however, and as a taxpayer and citizen, I do have concerns regarding the multiple, well documented instances of troubling behavior on his part, and the part of those he employs. I respect that you may disagree with me that Mr. Nichols had any legal or professional obligation to report what he knew or suspected about Mr. Baumgartner’s drug problem to the approriate judicial authorities, but in my view, the fact that Mr. Nichols apparently did not do that should be very concerning to citizens. (NOTE: I cannot say with complete authority that Mr. Nichols did NOT go to the right authorities with his concerns. Perhaps he did, but this information has not been made public. But there is certainly no indication in the way the whole Baumgartner story has been developing that anyone in Knox County’s criminal justice system who had reason to believe that the Judge was on the bench while impaired did anything meaningful to protect the integrity of our judicial process)
If people in law enforcement were supplying him with drugs, are they not even “scummier” than the judge? Whenever our system of justice is compromised, be it police, sheriffs, lawyers, judges, corrections officials or anyone else employed by the state to follow and enforce our laws, it’s wrong. There’s plenty of blame to go around here and those who weren’t addicted don’t even have that to point to. They were likely in it for money or power, or at best fearful that stepping up might have stopped chances for advancement.
Being appointed, or elected, to a public office/position carries not only rights and honors, but also responsibilities. This judge was clearly sick and abusing his position and power for a long time and those who were his friends in higher positions were treating him as a friend rather than recognizing their responsibilities to the public – in particular, to the safety of the public, in so many ways – the impaired driving, the impaired sentences and legal judgements, etc. I could go on and on. Yes, we’ve all been there with friends. But it’s not ok. Any one of these people could have stepped in and not only saved many innocent people from being the victims of this man’s impaired and desperate judgement, but also saved him from this very public airing of his failings and weaknesses.
It is rare that the dots get connected so quickly. Many of us suspected there was some type of cover-up after Henry’s death, and the evolving events seem to support that suspicion. The judge’s addiction was completely out of control, but his authority as a judge made him completely overstep any boundaries of decency or responsibility. This is a terrible story about what addiction can do to an individual and a community.
Wow. I don’t even know what to do with such a mess. During your whole ordeal, Katie, I was trying hard to give everyone involved the benefit of a doubt. But now it seems that was FAR too generous on my part.
I, too, am very appalled at the ethical violations implicated by the information so far. It is true, Andy, that the root of the problem is Judge Baumgartner. But the actions (or inactions) of all the people surrounding him who KNEW are troubling as well. Who knows how many people’s lives have been messed up by this judge’s unchecked actions. As public officials, the people around him had a responsibility to DO SOMETHING. And it doesn’t sound like they did.
Keryn, your comment back to Andy is so true. I could not have said it better!
@ Keryn and Katie, fair enough to both of you, I just get tired of blame for one person’s actions, when it comes to addiction, being deflected everwhere else. It’s easy after the fact to say others should have done something, but ultimatley this worthless judge is the one who is causing all of the additional pain to the families involved. His irresponsible, wreckless, criminal behavior cannot be excused. Whoever was illegallly supplying him w/ the drugs should also be brought to justice, but JRB is the one ultimately responsible.
Andy, First of all, I don’t “blame” anyone for their own addiction just as I don’t “blame” a smoker of many years for her lung cancer, and AIDS sufferer for his decision to practice unsafe sex or share needles, or a coal miner for his black lung disease. Many illnesses have a behavioral component that some people would argue was a matter of the sick person’s free choice, but “blame” isn’t how I approach illness.
This story is not about Judge Baumgartner’s illness or who is to blame for it. It’s about demonstrably unethical and illegal behaviors on his part that compromised our judiciary in such a way that vicious, evil murderers are going to get the chance to emotionally terrorize their victims’ families all over again, at taxpayer expense. It’s also about specifically defined professional licensure requirements and legal obligations that are attached to being a practicing attorney, and I am raising what I believe are legitimate questions about whether the DA or anyone on his staff violated those requirements and obligations by failing to take the well defined steps laid out by their profession regarding when and how to report substance abuse by a sitting judge. And I am not even saying that anyone definitively DID violate those obligations; I am simply saying that journalists and authorities beyond Knox County government need to ask that question in a meaningful way that reveals the answer.
-Katie
I know that there is a law in place now in Tennessee that if a physician suspects a patient is trying to obtain opiate painkillers under false pretense he/she is required to report him to the authorities. (It’s the same as when a doctor suspects child abuse). I am not sure when this law went into effect. Possibly this was not the case yet in 2006 or 2007.
Similar to what several people have already said, if Glenn Reynolds’ speculations about the potential for links between Henry’s case and Baumgartner are correct, that sure would explain the completely deplorable failure on the part of Knox County authorities to investigate Henry’s case sufficiently — not justify, of course, but explain. What a mess!
Any-regardless of any links to Henry this may or may not have the sheer number of decisions made in Baumgartner’s court room that are put in jeopardy by the inaction of God knows how many is deplorable! Yes the addict is ultimately to blame but come on if folks suspected they should gave done something, said something etc etc judge or not
Didn’t Barbara Pelot and her daugher L Gooch come to Henry’s Memorial Service? When I think of this and knowing what they knew/were doing, it ENRAGES me. Coming to his service was a face-of-show ploy.
And your County is beyond DESPICABLE. I had trouble just reading some of the details of the Christain-Newsome file and now all those barbaric details have to be re-opened.
J:
yes they did. and of course, at the time, we had NO IDEA what their involvement was in any of what had happened to Henry.
thinking about the fact that the two of them had the unmitigated gall to show up at my child’s funeral has the capacity to make me physically ill. i have to force myself not to think about it or i end up in hysterical floods of tears.
i remember you writing once that they couldn’t stand henry. so for them to show up at his memorial is even more twisted. what sick people.
Wish I could say I’m at all surprised by this, but I am very happy it is finally all starting to unravel publicly. Slow as it may be, justice for Henry continues to come…
This is really sick sick sick shit. The Judge angle makes it all hang together. One important remaining question: what benefit did Nichols et al get out of protecting Baumgartner and his dealers? That’s a missing piece of this puzzle. Money? Baumgartner promised to be pro-DA’s office in exchange for their keeping quiet? All of the above or something else?
And yes, if a $12/hour teacher’s aide (previously, me) is a mandated reporter on behalf of children, why aren’t well-paid professional criminal justice employees equally responsible for the well-being of Tennessee citizens re:illegal drug activity?
“One important remaining question: what benefit did Nichols et al get out of protecting Baumgartner and his dealers? That’s a missing piece of this puzzle.”
For anyone familiar with court proceedings (I worked as a newspaper reporter for years) this isn’t a missing piece at all. This is the DA getting in tight with the corrupt judge. Nobody has to pay money or promise favors, unless they’re completely stupid. It’s just the way it works.
In fairness, I should have added:
How many defense attorneys knew about this and did nothing? It’s completely hypocritical to lay all the blame on the DA and his prosecutors. I absolutely do not believe that in a city as small as Knoxville, defense attorneys were clueless about it.
good point clisby. i am guessing there were plenty of defense attorneys who knew also. i just read an article on the WBIR website and there were doctors, nurses, his assistant, many many people who witnessed his bizarre and inappropriate behavior. some tried to call him on it. i almost chuckled (if it wasn’t so darned pitiful and disturbing) how he tried to blame other judges who didn’t stop him. wth? anyone who has been around an addict knows that unless and until they are ready and willing to stop, there is no way to stop them. and until they own up to their behavior and take responsiblity for their actions, it will continue. what a sick sick man. this is all so dark and sad and heartbreaking for the parents of those two young people who were murdered.
The only thing I disagree about here is the attorneys calling the judge when they saw him weaving on the road. He could have been having a heart attack, or choking, or falling asleep. Attorneys and judges have closer ties than you’d think, but this is just basic human action. NOT calling would have been immoral. Of course, they should have then called 911.
(actually, the law world in a town like yours would be pretty small indeed — it would be very hard to keep an addiction like this a secret. I’m sure many people knew. There should have been and probably was a rehab program available to get him back on track — like the ones for addicted doctors — before they loose their license. It’s a shame nobody could help him get there..)
I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t see the dots connecting yet, but I’ll keep reading!
I was one of those people who thought, “Oh, come on, KNS, why are you petitioning for the release of the FBI files? Leave it alone. Let the families grieve. Don’t reopen those wounds. Knoxville doesn’t need to relive that collective trauma.” I THOUGHT this. I did not make hysterical comments on the KNS website or pontificate on my FB page. I did not get into heated discussions or suffer ruptured relationships because of my desire for an ending.
I thought wrong. This needed to come out. I am STUNNED at the depth of the corruption and the ramifications of when public officials fail in their responsibilities. Why I am stunned, I can’t say. I know about Mayor Ragsdale, and the ME’s office, and Henry Granju, and Johnia Berry, and yet, I somehow thought those were isolated incidents. I don’t think that anymore.
I am a crime victim. I am proud to say I live in Metro Nashville-Davidson County, where the police treat me like a victim and the judge who will try my case is not high during proceedings. I love Knoxville. It is my hometown. But I would not want to live there until our city and county officials are held responsible for their misdeeds and inaction.
This happened about 15 years ago and the person in question is now deceased, but this lady was addicted to Lortab. I knew her and had occasion to ask her where she got them at. She told me that she got them from the coroner in her city with whom she was having an affair. (Not Knoxville, but another Southern city.) I believe her because one day when I was at her apartment the guy came in like he lived there. He’d been out for a jog and was “just stopping by” to use her shower. So yeah, I fully believe that that kind of stuff goes on all the time.
I think good people tend to think of those working in the justice system as good people also. And while there are good people there, there is a whole lot of corruption that gets covered up. Just google for the divorce papers of Morris Dees.
On another issue, really Katie, do you think of drug users who share needles and get AIDS as being the same as miners working to support their families who get Black Lung?
It seems like what happened in the pursuit of the activity that caused the illness should matter some.
Reading today’s new information from the TBI report I see that Randy Nichols only contacted the TBI after the Knoxville Police Department came to his office with clear documented evidence of the judge’s drug habit. What else could he do at that point? KPD knew and KPD made sure that he knew so he was backed into a corner and finally had to contact TBI. This is very similar to what happened in Henry’s case. Nichols refused to admit that there were any crimes that could be charged or prosecuted and very publicly backed the Sheriff saying that no one could be arrested for anything in “the Granju case.” Yet less than 12 weeks later Nichols was backed into a corner when the Knoxville Police Department came to him with a rock solid case developed against Laurie Pelot Gooch, Randall Houser and Yolanda Harper and then all of a sudden Nichols is sending out a press release claiming that his office and the Sheriff had some role in getting drug cases developed against these dealers so they could be arrested and indicted. KPD does its job and Nichols only does his when he has no other choice.
Wow. I thought I lived in a place that was corrupt, but our guys look like angels compared to this. Didn’t think that was possible. . .
I wonder how far this spreads. What other cases that the judge heard may have been tainted? It’s possible that many more cases will have to be retried.
All of this needs to be laid out in the open for all to see and then brought out again come election time to ensure that anyone who is complicit in this mess loses their job.
The judge is complete disgrace to his profession and should be fully held accountable, but if there is one thing I never have been able to abide it’s this blaming everyone else for the drug addict’s misdeeds.
When you knew your son was pushing to other kids, you did not have him arrested. I’m sure PLENTY of other mothers whose children were victimized by your son feel you should have. This outrage of yours regarding Nichols is HIGHLY hypocritical.
I know you going to play lawyerball and counter that Nichols had an elevated professional duty and all that, but the moral duty on you was equally (if not more) important as it involved children.
I also think it’s cute how ONE pain pill addict who was trading sex for drugs is now deified by you as a wonderful baby who was going to make a positive difference in the world and ANOTHER pain pill addict who was trading sex for drugs was not worthy of mercy or anything beyond jail time, even though he was apparently a good public servant for decades before his ‘illness’.
Get a little objectivity about this situation and your credibility would improve.
Anon…. She DID try to have her son arrested. Get your facts straight before you come here with your hateful and ignorant blitherings.
Anon -
1 – You are dead wrong. When I found out my son had begin selling and trading drugs in the last year of his life, I immediately did everything I could and contacted every law enforcement officer who would listen, BEGGING someone to arrest him. This is a fact, and plenty of folks who lived thru it with me can attest to my actions, including several individuals working within the Knoxville/Knox County criminal justice system whom I contacted in writing and by phone to ask how I could get Henry arrested as quickly as possible. Additionally, the one time Henry DID get arrested – about 2 months before he died – I refused to bail him out, warned everyone else in our family that they were absolutely NOT to bail him out, and I had a lawyer immediately get to work trying to communicate with the court to which he would be assigned to try to get him assigned to the longest locked down treatment program possible rather than just letting him go because he had no prior record. Yet, less than 3 days after he was arrested, he was released and he was only given community service obligations.
2 – Are you comparing Judge Baumgartner to my dead teenage son? Or are you comparing Deena Castleman to my dead teenage son? Not sure. Either way, you are a viciously ugly person to refer to the sexual exploitation that my kid was subjected to by adults 25 or more years older than he was, and which he very bravely disclosed to me in hopes that law enforcement would make it stop so other kids weren’t hurt as some sort of neutral, victimless “trading sex for drugs” rather than the sexual trafficking of a high school-age boy by adult drug dealers with lengthy criminal histories. As for my own opinion of the sexual activity between Baumgartner and Ms. Castleman, he was the abuser, using institutional power over her to induce her to engage in sexual activity for his own gratification.
Go away. You are a mean person. And you don’t know what the hell you’re even talking about.
Katie
I think she really did try to have Henry arrested. Henry was also not in a public office where he was responsible for manipulating other’s prison sentences, or dismissing charges, etc. There is a big difference between a drug addicted teen who sells drugs to support his habit and a judge who affects people’s lives on a daily basis with judgements and sentences and/or supplying minors with drugs, etc. etc. read the newspaper report about his relationship with the young woman whose name escapes me now. Big thing that stuck out for me is the nurse who tended to this woman while she was in the hospital with blood poisioning who asked that he not be able to visit her because she found a bunch of pills in a flower pot delivered by him. Who gives illegal drugs to a friend who is seriously hospitalized with a drug infection? In a flower pot? who does that?
And to clarify my earlier post, as this has been asked of me before on here, all the factual info above is ‘alleged’ and unknown to me personally. I quote only what I’ve read in the news or on blogs and do not have any idea of the veracity of what is written in these two mediums. I know none of the participants of your son’s case nor the judge’s case, and do not work for any of the above, or any news outlet.
Huh?
No idea what this out of context comment is trying to convey.
Again, get your facts straight and/or just go away altogether.
-Katie
It was my understanding that you sought to have him arrested so that he would be forced into treatment (as opposed to desiring to have him arrested to stop him from selling drugs to other children), and that that it was then suggested that your son would be ultimately harmed by being in the system, and so you dropped your efforts to have him arrested, and his dealing continued unabated.
When he actually was arrested, it was unrelated to your earlier efforts, which you’d abandoned. No?
Anon (why no name?) – Your understanding is factually false in every single detail. Period.
Dunno who you are, but you’re a jerk with an agenda and no facts to back it up.
- Katie
Here we are. From your Sept 23, 2011 blog post: “I then consulted directly with professionals working within the local criminal justice system to get advice on how to get Henry arrested. I was told that an arrest would not be in Henry’s best interest, and that as a parent, I should seek to avoid Henry being in “the system.””
That’s where I base my understanding.
Mind you, I’m not in any way saying having your son arrested for the sake of forcing him into treatment was a bad thing; and in fact, dropping the idea of a having him arrested because of the stain of a criminal record on his life is what any parent would likely do. We protect the ones we care about, of course. But the motive there is not exactly the protection of the kids he selling to, is it? It was for his own best interest that the arrest was contemplated and subsequently dropped.
That’s my point. You condemn Nichols for not protecting the public from the judge…but then you failed to protect the kids your son was selling to in favor of protecting your son himself.
Katie, your update takes my breath away.
The real sickness is not the addiction, rather, it is the keeping of secrets, putting up a front, saving face.
I once heard an auditor speak about how there is a problem every time it is too painful or difficult to shine the sun on something; whenever somethings hides from the light, there is a problem. That is how you know. As soon as people put on a false front, and avoid discussing certain topics, the sickness has crept in and established itself.
Look at the corruption which is allowed to fester when a single person, Judge Baumgartner, keeps his disease a secret. Instead of dealing with it openly and honestly (and I put some blame on society that he felt he was unable to do so — attitudes about addiction have to change in order for addiction to be dealt with more effectively), Baumgartner attempted to hide his addiction. Because this can never be successful in the long term, his secret caused a frightening level of corruption to thrive in the criminal justice system in Knoxville as a whole wad of people “kept his secret”.
And then there is the matter of the members of that system which provided him with drugs. Who were they, and from whom did they get their drugs?
The saddest thing of all is that it wasn’t so much Henry’s drug addiction which led to his death, but rather, the tragic choice made by his heart.
I am so shocked and angry reading all of this. Katie, I know you only through the words on my screen, but your writing brims with your intelligence and integrity. You make me believe that there are still smart, good, kind people in the world and that smart, good, and kind people will triumph in the end. You are inspiring. Knoxville is not the only place in the world where this kind of mind-blowing evil and injustice exists. You make me want to fight, too.
I am so, so sorry for the loss of your son.
Sending you much grace and love tonight, Katie.
xo, misha
i keep thinking how the long arm of addiction, the pain, suffering, lost or destroyed lives, criminal, unethical and immoral behavior that can result from it is so profoundly demonstrated in this whole sad mess. truly heartbreaking. i wonder if there is now going to be a flood of people who were tried in this judge’s court asking for new trials. and heck, maybe they should be, judges certainly have alot to do with the outcomes of trials, whether objections are sustained or not, what evidence can be admitted, etc.. but oh how my heart breaks for the family of those two young people who were so brutally tortured and murdered, to have to go through trials again.
i am curious, as i don’t live in knoxville, how people felt about this judge before his addiction to pain pills started and obviously overtook him? was he well respected, considered to be a fair judge, etc? is he married, does he have kids, grandkids? like all other addicts, i am guessing he is much more than his addiction, but some judges are pretty bad even if they aren’t drug addicts. just wondering if people thought of him that way before all this happened, or if the criminal, unethical and immoral behavior he has displayed in the past years in out of character for him?
I think he was well respected and his recent behavior (c. 2007? to present) seems to be related to his drug addiction to pain pills that were originally legitimately prescribed for pancreatitis. Others may have more info that I do, though. That’s just an impression I have and not based on any concrete knowledge.
thanks JCC. of course his addiction doesn’t excuse his recent behavior, as someone said to my son once, it might be the reason, but it will never fly as an excuse. i can’t help but look at cases like this and wonder what the heck happened. how does someone who has so much throw it all away? (I asked myself and my son that question in regards to his behavior on more than one occasion). and again, it comes down to……addiction. as for all the people who knew how messed up he was, and didn’t say anything, i guess i can only come up with fear. fear they would lose their jobs, fear they would come up before him in court and there would be a fallout from what they said, fear that their behavior might be looked at, maybe they were doing things that would be made public and their lives would be blown apart too. hard to say. but wow, ugly stuff, all the way around.
He was ver much beloved and respected by his peers, the community and, of course, his family. He was a hard-working fair judge.
My point being that addiction is an equal opportunity disease. I’m sure he didn’t want to hurt his family and the families of crime victims. He had been a good man. I do, however, fault every person in authority who knew and did nothing. They ave harmed many, including the judge.
exactly what i was thinking. an equal opportunity disease indeed. you can be a 60 something judge, or a teenage boy, or a middle aged housewife, and wow, it can grab you. the reason i have so little patience with those who believe “this could never happen to me or my family”. yeah, right.
Remember when you said that you were seriously considering moving away from Knoxville?
Yeah. I would, too.
Katie
First of all, I am so sorry for your loss and for all that you have endured in the subsequent search for some level of justice in your son’s tragic death. Navigating our legal system can be inhumane and mind boggling. In this case, however, Price and Fitzgerald are prosecutors who are all heart and all integrity. Besides the families and friends of the victims, I dare say no one has been more impacted by these cases. Please do not mistake me to mean that what Price and Fitzgerald have been through can ever come close to the life long suffering of Chris and Channon’s families and friends. But they gave two years of their lives to sift through the horrific details of these crimes every day and to passionately, diligently and wholeheartedly prosecute the murderers. I believe the Newsom and Christian families would agree. To suggest they might have done anything to jeopardize these cases is not fair to say the least. Until very recently, Baumgartner was a respected, competent and revered member of the judiciary held in high esteem by these prosecutors and most everyone involved in the criminal justice system. Almost no one could have imagined what was going on behind closed doors. It would seem the very few instances when red flags were apparent to the outside world, the judge was assumed to be having challenges related to his medical conditions and/or his age. There is nothing (so far) to indicate that Nichols new WHAT was wrong with Baumgartner when he checked on him. He just thought SOMETHING was apparently wrong. Deena Christian herself said she thought the judge had fallen asleep on a few occasions. Everyone involved in the case suffered from the trauma of it. Many people thought that is what was taking a toll on the judge. Most court watchers also say the judge was very much himself throughout the first three trials. Drug addicts are the greatest con artists around. I can’t imagine, the prosecutors could have even imagined what was really going on. Price and Fitzgerald are champions for victims and heros for justice. Please tread more carefully on all they have given in the name of justice. And now, like the families, they have to go through it all again. In this case, Katie, these are the good guys.
Lynn,
I understand that these lawyers are the good guys in the legal proceedings. However, no one is perfect and usually good behavior doesn’t excuse it when you do make a very bad choice or decision. It also doesn’t mean you are an entirely bad person, just like you weren’t an entirely good person before.
Seeing a car swerving down the highway, narrowly avoiding a crash (according to them) and not alerting police? That was a bad decision. It was made because they knew the person in the car. Had it been the car of an unknown person, I believe they would have called 911 and reported the incident, the location, and the license plate.
This to me is similar to the Penn State case. People let their knowledge of a person and of how the effects of reporting on that person might come back on them to affect their decision making.
I truly don’t think it makes them bad people, it makes them normal people who have made a bad and wrong choice and there are consequences when that happens. It’s going to come back and hurt them regardless. It won’t matter that the judge seemed fine for some of the trials.
Jen,
Ms. Granju goes far beyond suggesting someone made a bad decision and is theorizing the prosecutors office KNEW the judge was using and abusing drugs and thus were implicit in his actions. This is quite a leap without basis and is unfair to the public servants involved.
Theorizing and asking questions, eg., who knew what and when did they know it, why did they not act on what they knew, or ask more questions to confirm suspicions …. This is all very fair and very necessary. I would go even further and ask why is the media just now touching on some, not all however, of these questions. As public servants, these people should and must be held to a higher level of morality and integrity. It is our right and even our duty as tax posting citizens to ask these questions and expect answers. Allowing them to hide behind the mantle of respect that some accord to them because of their positions only allows this sort of cover up to continue.
And speaking of the media, Jamie Satterfield day in that courtroom day after day for YEARS … what did she know and when did she know it?
Similarly, asking legitimate questions is far different than launching accusations.
I think you’re the one seeing accusations. I see questions and concerns.
Considering her background in being involved with the Sheriff’s department and the prosecutor’s office and what seems to be yours (as a family member?) I can see how you would like there to be a benefit of doubt given. Knowing what she knows about those offices, their treatment of her and the information released so far? There is no reason to give them some extra benefit of the doubt and she’s asking VERY fair questions.
These two statements from Ms. Granju that I have copied below are not questions. They are conclusions. Based on what has been released and reported so far they are a giant leap. I have not read or heard anything that would suggest that those who thought something was wrong and were concerned about the judge or tried to intervene could even begin to imagine that it might be drug related – let alone illegal.
“If Knox County DA Randy Nichols suspected or knew that Judge Baumgartner’s substance abuse problem was important enough that Mr. Nichols attempted a personal intervention, Mr. Nichols was obligated by law and professional ethics to directly report his concerns to the state judiciary without delay or obfuscation. I have seen no info suggesting that Mr. Nichols did that. Instead, he stood by and let Judge Baumgartner continue to oversee our county’s drug court and major criminal cases………..
It appears that at least two people working as licensed attorneys and members of the Bar within the office of Knox Countyoffice knew or strongly suspected that Judge Baumgartner was District Attorney Randy Nichols KNEW that this judge who held the lives of others in his gavel every day had a significant substance abuse problem. Thus, the odds are high, in my personal opionion, that the top officials within the Office of the Knox County Sheriff had at least some of the same troubling information about the judge. But no one did ANYTHING to protect the integrity of the Knox County judicial system, thus implicitly covering for Judge Baumgartner. As licensed attorneys, the DA and any of his prosecutors who knew or strongly suspected that the judge was sitting on the bench, overseeing criminal and drug diversion cases while impaired himself were clearly OBLIGATED by law and their professional licensure standards to take certain steps. But they did not.”
Having read a few of the articles at Knoxnews and having my very own family member lawyer, I find your assertions that no one knew anything to be not very credible.
Certainly many people here assumed throughout Henry’s case’s non-investigation that there were problems of corruption in the law enforcement community there.
That aside, though, in my larger than Knoxville city (in another state) there is no way that the prosecutor and those in his/her office would not know about erratic behavior indicating substance abuse on the judge’s part. It just doesn’t happen that this could be hidden. Doctors knew, nurses knew, his administrative assistant had to cancel days in court, he nodded off in court, he was having an affair with another addict who had been in his court, he was in rehab previously.
Then, they saw him driving erratically — the heart attack example above? That’s even stupider — what would calling a person having a heart attacking in his car on his cellphone do other than cause worse problems? If they really thought there was a possibly fatal medical emergency 911 should have been the very first call. MORE bad judgment.
There is really no way that someone smart enough to graduate from law school and get a job could not know this! I understand not wanting to get involved, I understand fearing for one’s job, etc. But if they truly had not a single clue of a problem then, well….
And yes, I do see those as questions — this post is entitled “questions that need asking” and includes phrases like:
- “I have seen no information suggesting that…” which means there could be info out there that has yet to come to light
–”It appears that two people…knew or strongly suspected that” says just that — based on the info released so far, these two people saw a near accident from an impaired driver and chose to call a third party to make a call to the person in that car. Bad decision.
– “the odds are high, in my personal opinion, that the top officials within [KCSO] had at least some of the same troubling information…”
Do you see that these are all the issues being raised? Do you see that they are couched in terms that clarify that this is her reading of the limited information currently available?
I get that you are invested in someone in the office, but the truth is that person may not have done the best things possible. I can understand why, too. It could have meant their job. It could have meant not working in Knoxville again. It could have meant being told they should sit down and shut up.
But none of that is here or there as to the story that is unfolding and the actions that were or weren’t taken.
If family members of addicts learn anything- it is usually how difficult it is to detect drug use and how impossible (sometimes it never happens) to catch someone using in the act.
To put the expectation that the DA would know of someone’s pill usage from a driving incident is beyond the pale. As is suggesting that the DA is responsible for not only knowing this but arresting and stopping someone’s addiction.
I just don’t get the support for this reasoning- not one bit. I wish data were consulted when it comes to how long it can take before drug use becomes apparent on the job- in cases where there could be no way to argue there was a conspiracy. There is a lot of data on this, but I feel that this is just supposed to be an attack on someone’s character.
I don’t get the support. I feel like nothing has been learned about addiction here. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Jen
Since you seem intent on insisting I must have an agenda (don’t we all?), I will say I am a victim’s advocate. I, like many, followed these trials intently and, like many, developed an admiration for Price and Fitzgerald. I have not, nor would I ever, question Katie’s personal experience with the criminal justice system. If the victim’s families speak out against the DA’s office, I would honor that and say no more. Until the time that the families question the actions of the DA’s office, I believe the DAs office has earned our respect with regard to this particular case.
Jav — Have you read the articles? That’s my source of information and I don’t see any evidence of anyone being surprised at his addiction.
My question to you is — if you are on the highway and you see the car you are following driving erratically and then nearly causing an accident, what would you do? Nothing? Call and report the location and license number? I’m betting that they didn’t want their cellphone number associated with that call or they would have made it.
That’s my problem here — while it’s likely that everyone in the DA’s office (along with every litigation attorney in the city, many addicts and at least a few people in the sheriff’s office) knew about his problem, I can see not doing anything without proof (though there are others who likely should have reported other incidents or called the police, not that that would have done much good, perhaps) — but they let a present danger go by.
Again, to me that’s the equivalent of seeing a grown man raping a 10 year old and not calling the cops. And I believe that the reasons it didn’t happen are the same as well — an old boys’ network, not turning in friends, turning a blind eye to things no one wants to see. All very understandable, but not right.
And as I’ve said, we’ve all done not right things, since we’re human. A lot of times, it turns out okay — there isn’t a car accident, someone else steps up and the problem gets taken care of, someone is able to talk someone into retiring before the whole story breaks. But it didn’t this time.
Since I don’t live in your area, this isn’t about just this one (horrible, horrible) case, but about all the crimes that may have been committed, about the prevalence of these drugs in your city, about the number of overdoses, and about the seeming inaction at times to act on it.
I guess after hearing this, that your friend who blogged his frustration and suspicions that this involved a higher level official trying to keep his own drug/prostitution problems under wraps, is completely correct. I’m so sorry, but maybe you will be able to take the entrie system down now.
Correction on your point 4:
There is an in-house jail drug program, that I think you are mixing up with drug court. I forgot the name of the in jail program. The jail program and drug court are two distinctly different programs and have no ties to each other in funding or management.
Judge Baumgartner, as well as the rest of the judges, refer to the in-house program regularly.
The drug court program that you refer to is not considered “highly sought after” and has no waiting to get in. Drug court is for the most part a post plea program but I think I heard they do take some pre-plea cases.
It is my understanding that John Gill has hated the drug court since its inception. He would never help a person get in to it.
Agreeing with many of the comments…and also looking at the larger picture which was laid out so clearly by the News Sentinel in the article on pill mills, etc., recently. We need to be more proactive as a community, state, and country on this issue. Strict regulation of pain clinics (I just got an ad it the mail for one on Bearden Hill last week and drove past a sign on I-40 advertising a “pain clinic” in Nashville….really?!), mandatory checking of the drug database by doctors and other medical professionals when prescribing addictive medication, requirements that pharmacists report suspected abuse, etc. Our lack of regulations makes it too easy to become and stay addicted. I’d also add that Big Pharma–the pharmaceutical companies, who profit tidily from sale of pain medication, should be part of the solution.
I agree with many of the comments, though I am not sure this is the solution. I have long been a believer that the solution begins at home, at the family dinner table, when the children are still young, thrugh family discussion. Eliminate the problem before it occurs. Much of societies ills could be eliminated this way.