Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood of Townsend, Tn., has denied a motion to reconsider his ruling in the "judge shopping" case in which Gary Wayne McCullough is charged with boating under the influence and possession of a controlled substance.
Attorney Jerry Summers had asked Judge Blackwood to reconsider his ruling after a recent lengthy hearing that the case be remanded to General Sessions Court for a new preliminary hearing by a different judge.
Judge Bob Moon initially heard the case and it was bound to the Grand Jury, which sent the charges on to Criminal Court.
Attorney Summers had argued that the charges should have been dismissed on a "due process violation" on grounds that officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency assigned most of their cases to certain judges.
Judge Blackwood denied the petition to rehear in an order signed Jan. 15, but it was entered in the court file Monday.
Judge Blackwood did not find that Judges Moon or David Bales had violated ethics rules. They both testified and said they did not participate in the assignment of cases, but that was handled by the officers and the court clerks.