Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson has taken over a capital murder case in Hamilton County that dates back to May 2016.
He did so after Judge Amanda Dunn in Division II recused herself in the case in which Courtney High and Andre Grier are charged with carrying out the slaying of a state witness. Charles Shelton was also charged, but he died while incarcerated at Silverdale in September of 2021. He was 31.
Judge Dunn, a former criminal defense attorney, had a conflict in the case.
Former District Attorney Neal Pinkston opted to seek the death penalty against those charged.
Attorney Steven Moore, who formerly represented High, could not remain on the case after he was named deputy District Attorney by new DA Coty Wamp.
The new prosecutor in the case is Jennifer Nichols, an assistant district attorney from Gallatin. After the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office recused itself, Sumner County DA Ray Whitley was given the case. He assigned prosecutor Nichols to handle it.
Judge Patterson held a WebEx hearing in the case on Monday morning with most attorneys appearing remotely.
The prosecutor was not on the call, and officials said it might have been due to an issue over the time difference. Gallatin is on Central Daylight Time.
Attorneys involved in the case involving High and Grier have to be death penalty certified. Judge Tom Greenholtz, who previously oversaw the case before being elevated to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, at one court hearing said he did not know of any Chattanooga lawyers so certified.
One of the lawyers involved in the case is Cleveland, Tn.'s Jimmy Logan.
The victim, Bianca Horton, had been set to testify against Cortez Sims in a Jan. 17, 2015, mass shooting at College Hill Courts. Ms. Horton was grazed by a bullet and her young daughter, Zoe, was left paralyzed. Talitha Bowman was killed. Marcel "Baby Watts" Christopher was shot, but survived.
The testimony that Ms. Horton gave at a Juvenile Court hearing was allowed in the criminal court trial of Cortez Sims. Sims was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life prison sentence.
Judge Patterson said he was advised "there are several terabytes of discovery in this case."
He said the new prosecutor "has quite a handful to deal with. She may wind up moving to Chattanooga to handle all of these cases."