Sevier County Courthouse

Political happenings: June 18

POLITICAL HAPPENINGS

* Knox County 5th District Democratic Party: Mayoral candidate forum, 6 p.m. Monday, Peerless Restaurant, 320 North Peters Road. Candidates Madeline Rogero and Mark Padgett are scheduled to attend. For more information, contact Jermone Miller at millerjq@charter.net or Nikki Witt at witt.nicole@ymail.com .

* Halls Republican Club: Meeting, Monday, Bel-Air Grill, 3820 Neal Drive; 6:15 p.m. if you plan to dine or 7 p.m. for the meeting. Guest speaker will be state Sen. Stacey Campfield.

* Sevier County Republican Party: Meeting, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sevier County Courthouse. State Sen. Doug Overbey, state Reps. Art Swann and Richard Montgomery will report on the recently concluded legislative session.

* Ivan Harmon for Knoxville Mayor: Meet-and-greet, 9-11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 25, Wright's Cafeteria, 5403 N. Middlebrook Pike. Residents will be able to meet with Harmon and discuss the important issues facing Knoxville.

To submit an item for Political Happenings email information to news@knews.com or fax to 865-342-6400. Submissions must be made at least one week prior to event.

Mother of Child Shooting Victim Contacts Former Grand Jury Members ...

To NOT be in the ‘zone of danger’ which subsequently resulted in a No True Bill? There were very few no true bills rendered at this session in May 2010 from which you can see in the newspaper article enclosed. Asst. District Attorney, Timothy Norris, and Detective Jim Huddleston of the Sevier County Sheriffs office, who appeared as the witness, apparently presented this matter to the grand jury?

I am wondering, too, if you were aware that one of those children of the three kids involved was literally assaulted by this gunshot, children were in mere feet of the child shot?

Child who suffered the literal assault still bears the permanence of those wounds, as the fragments embedded in her body and cannot be retrieved surgically without the child incurring even more damage. I am curious to know if you have ever seen the photographs of these gunshot wounds, of which I have enclosed copies for you, which were taken on the day of the incident by a cell phone?  Did you on that day, that you heard this case, literally see photographs of this child’s injuries?

I was unable to attend these proceedings though I am listed as a witness on the grand jury paperwork, of which I have also enclosed a copy of that form for your review.  I am simply trying to elicit information of what content exactly was presented to you by the assistant DA and the witness who appeared before you, in relation to this matter, resulting in the no true bill.

Please know when the matter was brought again forth before the grand jury by private counsel in March of this year (2011) a true bill was indeed found, the three kids were all found to be in the ‘zone of danger’ and there were four felonious indictments handed down at that time against this same defendant, being Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon, (both of these former charges listed above against the child shot), and additionally two separate counts of Reckless Endangerment with a deadly weapon for the other two children involved. (One charge of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon per child excluding the child assaulted.) Please be aware “no additional or new information” was presented to the March 2011 grand jury; as the same exact information was available then in May 2010 for presentation to the grand jury by the DA, including all witnesses present upon the day that this crime was committed, in addition to the gunshot victim herself, and all were readily prepared to testify at that time before you.

County Courthouse Book

Insiders' Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains

Television & cable factbook

The National Directory of Courts of Law, 1991

Insiders' Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains