Ex-judge Richard Baumgartner under federal probe

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 3/24/12 | Jamie Satterfield

[SmithL]

Former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner is now under federal probe, officials confirmed Friday.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which spearheaded an investigation of the disgraced judge for violations of state law, is continuing its probe. This time, however, agents are working at the direction of federal prosecutors, spokeswoman Kristin Helm said.

"The case remains open and ongoing, and TBI agents are continuing to investigate Baumgartner," Helm said in an email. "Specifically, we are looking at possible federal violations with the U.S. Attorney's Office."

David Jennings, a supervisor with the Knoxville U.S. Attorney's Office, said he could "neither confirm nor deny" the probe, standard policy for that office.

Defense attorney Donald A. Bosch, who represented Baumgartner in the state probe that led to the ex-judge's guilty plea in March 2011 to one felony count of official misconduct, acknowledged the federal probe.

"We are aware there is an investigation, and beyond that we have no further comment," Bosch said.

Baumgartner first came under probe by the TBI in late 2010 when the ex-wife of Christopher Gibson, a felon on probation in Baumgartner's court, revealed she had secretly taken a photograph of the judge's car in Gibson's Gap Road driveway. She alleged Baumgartner had been buying prescription painkillers from Gibson and having trysts at Gibson's house with a graduate of the Drug Court program Baumgartner oversaw.

When confronted by the TBI in January 2011, Baumgartner abruptly went on medical leave. . . .

[SmithL]

For more information on this judge, click on Keyword: Baumgartner.

For more information on the murders and the trial he botched, click on Keyword: ChannonChristian.

[SmithL]

This is great news. This POS judge needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars!

[SmithL]

From an earlier story:

Richard Baumgartner was appointed Knox County Criminal Court judge in 1992. The News Sentinel confirmed in Jan. 2011 that Baumgartner was under a TBI investigation. He resigned from the bench in March 2011 and pleaded guilty to a single count of official misconduct for buying pills from Christopher Gibson.

[volunbeer]

I am glad to see that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is looking at this. The original plea deal and sentence was obscene and it’s especially obscene given the horrific consequences for numerous families that will have to suffer through new trials.

All they need is a petit waiver and they can give Baumgartner the sentence he truly deserved.

[Standing Wolf]

In the state case, Baumgartner avoided both jail time and a felony conviction when Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood granted him judicial diversion. That, in turn, spared his pension.

Special favors for special people.

[cva66snipe]

Only snag I see in a Fed probe is IIRC He’s a DEM or he was appointed by a Dem governor. I’d like to see him get a sentence he deserves and not a “Oh That’s OK” deal which was done by local Litter Box Politics.

[eyedigress]

Except for one thing. It’s Holder’s people that committed this atrocious crime. I trust the DOJ as much as I do the judge.

[zeugma]

7 full paragraphs in an article about a corrupt politician, and no mention of party affiliation. Must be a democrat.

[SmithL]

From an earlier article by the same writer:

Death put Baumgartner on the bench.

A 1977 graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Law, Baumgartner, a Democrat, ran for a judgeship in 1990 and lost. Close friend and fellow Democrat Randy Nichols campaigned to be Knox County District Attorney General in 1982 but lost to Republican Ed Dossett.

Six years later, Nichols was elected to be Knox County Criminal Court judge. In 1992, Dossett died in what was then labeled an accidental cattle trampling. Democratic Gov. Ned McWherter tapped Nichols to replace Dossett in the DA's Office and Baumgartner to replace Nichols on the bench. The pair remained close friends and active members of the Democratic Party.

Knoxville News Sentinel: Court of secrecy: How Richard Baumgartner, a drug-addicted judge, stayed on the bench despite warnings

FWIW, This link goes to a very long article that includes a lot of details, and fills in a lot of the blanks, in this disgusting saga.