Oakdale News

A man who pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in connection with what a prosecutor called a "drug deal gone bad'' received an effective 15-year sentence Friday.

Stanley Brown, 37, of Nashville admitted to:

1. Shooting 27-year-old Tommy Morrell once in the head with a .38-caliber handgun, killing him, on Oct. 7, 2007;

2. Shooting Charles Ward, 39, in the arm and shoulder;

3. Stealing Morrell's 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

The shootings occurred inside a Moses Lane home in Roane County's Midtown community.

All criminal charges in a case centering on an accidental shooting this past March in Meigs County were dropped by the DAG Russell Johnson’s office during a hearing in General Sessions Court Thursday, Jul;y 9th.

Shane Godsey was walking back to his vehicle after a day of hunting turkey along the Tennessee River. Another hunter, William Whaley of Decatur, allegedly mistook Godsey for a turkey and fired into the bushes, hitting him with approximately 30 shotgun pellets.

Originally, Assistant District Attorney Kristin Kelly had no plans to file charges against Whaley. Godsey's lawyer, Jes Beard, filed an affidavit that resulted in a reckless endangerment charge against Whaley.

Kelly approached Beard with a proposal to drop the charges against all three people involved with the state covering the court costs. Beard wanted to see the charges against Whaley pursued and advised Godsey not to accept the agreement.

Before a decision could be made, Kelly informed the court the state was dropping the charges against all three individuals without prejudice, meaning the issue cannot be raised again.

Beard objected to the decision, saying his client had not agreed to dismiss the charges against Godsey, but admitted the district attorney's office had almost total control in the matter.

A federal grand jury indicted 14 people on a 34-count indictment in connection with an alleged methcathinone ring in Morgan County, according to U.S. Attorney James R. Deadrick.

Morgan County Sheriff Dennis Ledbetter said, “This group is responsible for putting a lot of dope into Morgan County. We want to make sure they get locked up for as long as possible.”

The Indicted, alphabetically by last name:

- Eddie E. Aslinger, 51, of Lansing, Tennessee

- Michael Carroll, a/k/a Mickey Carroll, Michael Herrell, Bo-bo, 41, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- David Chamblee, a/k/a David James Chamblee, Jr., 23, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- Tiffany Crass, 21, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee

- Brandon Martin, a/k/a Brandon Scoot Martin, 29, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- Danny Lee Monday, 44, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- Lisa Orme, a/k/a Lisa Dudas, 38, of Coalfield, Tennessee

-Deborah Phillips, a/k/a Debbie, Deborah Braden, Deborah Crabtree, Deborah C. Daugherty, 53, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- Frances Richardson, a/k/a Frances M. Phillips, 40, of Coalfield, Tennessee

- Natasha Richardson, a/k/a Tasha, 22, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee

- Mary Roberts, a/k/a Mary Carroll 33, of Sunbright, Tennessee

- Nerisa Rogers, a/k/a Nerisa Jane Aslinger, Nerisa Phillips, 30, of Briceville, Tennessee

- Elizabeth Scisco, 24, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee

- Deadrea Wilson, a/k/a Dee-dee, Deadra Candice Martin, 28, of Harriman, Tennessee.

Knoxville News-Sentinel editorial, June 26, 2009:

Justice was not served when prosecutors in the Ninth Judicial District agreed to five years' probation for a Lenoir City man who shot his girlfriend to death.

John Kenneth Harvey, 26, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the February 2008 death of Savannah Cass McMahan, 21.

Harvey admits he was arguing with McMahan when he picked up a loaded .22 from a nearby table. The two argued often, according to McMahan's father, who said Harvey bullied his daughter, and "she said she was going to leave him several times before the shooting."

The gun was a single-action revolver, and the detective in the case said it had to be cocked before it could be fired. The powder burns he found showed McMahan was shot at close range.......

If prosecutors could not do better than a no-jail-time deal in that case, they should have gone to trial and let 12 citizens decide who had the best ballistics expert.

This plea bargain simply undermines faith in the judicial process.

(The full editorial is longer than Topix allows on the news board. To read it in its entirety, visit the accompanying link. The Ninth Judicial District includes Loudon, Roane, Morgan, and Meigs counties.)

The parents of a Lenoir City woman shot and killed by her boyfriend are speaking out against a plea bargain that sentenced their daughter's killer to five years on probation.

The plea-deal was granted by the office of Russell Johnson, District Attorney General for Roane, Loudon, Meigs, and Morgan counties.

"I want justice for my daughter," said Sarah Berry, mother of Savannah Cass McMahan, 21, who was shot by John Kenneth Harvey, 26, in February 2008.

Harvey was originally charged with second-degree murder, and admits he shot the woman during an argument but claims it was an accident. The charge was reduced to reckless homicide.

The victim’s mother, Sarah Berry, said she met several times with the district attorney general's office. She says the office wanted to avoid a trial from the beginning,

The victim's father, John McMahan, said he witnessed the couple's frequent arguments and what he called "bullying" by Harvey. McMahan says his daughter was going to leave Harvey. He says:

I know that's why he shot her, because she said she was going to leave"

Assistant Attorney General Bill Reedy says one critical factor in not pursuing a murder charge was a "dying declaration" made by the victim that the shooting was accidental. The witness was said to be Nathan Lane, who called the ambulance that night.

Lane says that he never heard a dying declaration and never agreed to testify to hearing such a thing:

By the time I saw her she was already going into convulsions. She didn't say a thing to me."

For more details, see the full story.

A Lenoir City man who admitted shooting and killing his girlfriend during an argument last year will receive five years' probation for the crime.

John Kenneth Harvey, 26, was arrested in February 2008 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Savannah Kathy McMahan, 21.

Prosecutors said they reduced the charge to reckless homicide and agreed to five years' supervised probation after reviewing the evidence in the case.

A Morgan County commissioner says he will withdraw his proposal urging the state to consider moving terrorism suspects from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay to a recently closed state prison.

Commissioner Nick Bishop released a statement today saying he lacked public support and will remove his proposal.

Police arrested a Morgan County teenager on May 20 on child porn charges, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

An independent report on water, sediment and fish samples collected after the Dec. 22 Kingston Fossil Plant ash spill shows high toxin levels and a fish population at the toxic “tipping point” of losing reproductive ability.

The report estimates the ash sludge contains 3,380 tons of the 10 most toxic elements in fly ash.

“Overall, these test results indicate much more severe impacts to water, sediment and fish than has been previously reported by TVA, which tells us they haven’t been sampling in the right places,” said Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby of Appalachian Voices, an environmental organization based in Boone, N.C.

Scientists with Appalachian State University, Wake Forest University, the Tennessee Aquarium and Appalachian Voices released the study Monday online and in a telephone conference call.

Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Gil Francis said agency officials are reviewing the report.

Motorists stopped for traffic violations in Tennessee could be fingerprinted if state lawmakers approve a bill pending in the legislature.

Currently, when drivers are cited during traffic stops police officers ask for the driver's signature on the ticket But the proposed bill would allow police departments to eliminate signatures and collect fingerprints.

Supporters say collecting fingerprints would save money and help police determine whether the driver is wanted for a criminal offense, but opponents worry that it allows the government to tread on individual privacy rights.

"The way I see it, if they take your fingerprint, they have access to your history and that's an invasion of privacy," said Martha Simms, 27, a mother of two who recently got a speeding ticket in Davidson County.

State Sen. Joe Haynes and State Rep. Mike Stewart co-sponsored the bill, which gives police departments the choice of collecting a signature or a fingerprint, or collecting a signature and a fingerprint. The bill has been approved by the state House of Representatives, and senators will vote on the measure Wednesday. The bill, if passed, will take effect on July 1. At that time, any police department within the state could require fingerprinting as a means of identification, said Haynes, a Goodlettsville Democrat. "It's their discretion," he said.

The Emory River has hit flood stage level as it passes through Oakdale in Morgan County.