KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A judge has issued several new rulings denying motions filed by Lemaricus Davidson, who is currently on death row for his first-degree murder conviction in the 2007 murders of Chris Newsom and Channon Christian.
On December 9, Knox County Criminal Court Senior Judge Don R. Ash signed orders denying four motions Davidson filed. Those motions included
- A motion for an interlocutory appeal and stay;
- A second petition for post-conviction relief;
- A petition for writ of error coram nobis;
- And a petition for writ of error coram nobis with respect to the denial of post-conviction relief.
The first of the motions asked the court to review its ruling to not disqualify Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the State in Davidson’s post-conviction petitions. Ash wrote that he agreed with the attorney general that it is not likely the ruling on the disqualification order would be reversed and that if judgment in that motion is not ruled on in Davidson’s favor, he will have the right to appeal.
In the second ruling, Ash wrote that the issues Davidson argued as a reason for a second petition had already been addressed and ruled on by the post-conviction court. Specifically, Davidson argued that his counsel had been ineffective, but Ash wrote that Davidson’s dissatisfaction with how the court handled his post-conviction proceedings “is not a basis for this Court to grant the second petition.”…