Deadbeat judge breaks breaks wife's arm, sued for $1-million

You will only see this uncensored news on the Dragonater blog. Normally only criminal cases qualify for free lawyers, not civil trials without risk of jail. But Judge Swann allegedly jails more divorcees than all other judges in Tennessee combined.

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Sent: Sat, 12 Feb 2011

Subject: Fwd: Judge Bill Swann Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SCHUCHARDT LAW FIRM

Judge Bill Swann Appoints State-Paid Counsel for Man Earning $73,000 per Year

Knoxville, Tennessee – February 3, 2011 – Knox County Circuit Judge Bill
Swann has entered an order appointing a state-paid lawyer for a man who earns $73,000 per year. The order is unusual because – according to Tennessee law – a lawyer should only be appointed when a person has an income below approximately $23,000 per year.

The ruling occurred in the divorce case of Dendy v. Dendy, Case No. 107628. It
benefits the divorcing husband, James Dendy, who is a geologist with URS Corporation, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Judge Swann’s decision is especially unusual because the Court also found that
the divorcing wife, Amy Dendy, was not indigent, even though she is currently
unemployed, and has never earned more than $39,000 per year during her working
career.

Amy Dendy is a former Knox County school teacher who was laid off during the
recession. Dendy currently writes an internet blog for mothers.

Dendy’s attorney, Elliott Schuchardt, said that “I am highly surprised by Judge
Swann’s decision. This seems like a waste of state funds, given Mr. Dendy’s relatively large income. My client is currently appealing the ruling.”

See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 29 (2010); 45 C.F.R. Pt. 1611, App. A. (providing a benchmark of approximately $22,900 for granting indigency status for a household of three).

Schuchardt indicated that there were other problems with the case. “The parties
have attended over twenty-five hearings in this case, since July 2007. However, Judge Swann still won’t allow my client to even speak to her two young daughters on the telephone.” The Court has twice refused to hold a hearing in connection with this issue.

Amy Dendy will be presenting a motion on February 9, 2011 asking Judge Swann
to recuse himself from the case on the grounds that her former husband, James Dendy, allegedly claimed that his family made campaign contributions to Judge Bill Swann.

For further information, contact:

Elliott J. Schuchardt
Schuchardt Law Firm
336 McCready Way
Sewickley, PA 15143
Phone: (412) 414-5138
E-mail: elliott016[@]gmail.com
www.schuchardtlaw.com

See also:

Note how Metropulse censored this press release - Metropulse is owned, edited and published by the Knoxville News Sentinel, which endorsed Judge Swann in the past election.

Knoxville News Sentinel censored an 8-page political advert by the Dragonater's brother in his campaign for Judge Swann's job - Judge Swann is a convicted deadbeat dad who has been married 4 times, who allegedly broke his wife's arm, so KNS editorial board selected him for endorsement to run divorce court in Knox County.

Judge Bill Swann sued for $1-million libel - It's interesting that Judge Swann's "First Amendment" lawyer, Dick Hollow, was porno king Larry Flint's personal attorney. As Mr. Hollow told The Dragonator, "I wish I'd never taken this case!" Jury trial ASAP.

Press Release and Petition for Contempt: Judge Bill Swann Refused to Pay Child Support, Charged with Civil Contempt of Court - Backup copy

Candidate for governor Leola McConnell missing and feared murdered while investigating Judge Swann's alleged S&M video - "In 1984 I watched George W. Bush enthusiastically and expertly perform a homosexual act on another man, one Victor Ashe," said McConnell. "Ashe is the current U.S. ambassador to Poland; and he too should come out, like former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevy, and admit to being a gay American. Other homo-erotic acts were also performed by then-private citizen George W. Bush. I know this because I performed one of them on him myself."


Owners of Knoxville News Sentinel, Mr Scripps and Mr Howard, support Judge Bill Swann, and are members of Bohemian Grove homosexual nudist compound for snuff kiddie porn.

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Is Judge Baumgartner's suspension and pending arrest part of the alleged extortion racket run by Judge Swann?

Judge Baumgartner allowed an innocent Vietnam veteran to be convicted and sent to prison, now that taking video of fully-clothed adults at a public swimming pool at your own apartment is "kiddie porn".

Accused red-light camera sniper Cliff Clark got moved from Baumgartner's court and won dismissal of his case. Baumgartner refused to allow digging up the rotting corpse of Knox district attorney general Ed Dossett, during the murder trial of his alleged black widow (and her unidentified co-conspirators).

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TBI said to be looking at whether Judge Richard Baumgartner got pills from felon

18 February 2011

KNOXVILLE, TENN. -- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing whether Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner acquired prescription painkillers from a man under his legal thumb, the News Sentinel has learned.

Sources familiar with the probe have confirmed that the TBI is looking at the link between Baumgartner and Christopher Lee Gibson, a 40-year-old probationer in the judge's court. The sources requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Late last week, Al Schmutzer Jr., a special prosecutor assigned to head up the investigation of Baumgartner, sought and received from Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood a probation violation warrant against Gibson that alleged Gibson, a convicted felon, had a handgun in his possession.

The warrant offered no details, and Gibson was allowed to go free on his own recognizance without posting bond.

The News Sentinel has learned that days before Baumgartner abruptly stepped down Jan. 27 from the bench for what he said was an indefinite medical leave, the TBI obtained a photograph of a dark blue Buick with judicial tags parked in Gibson's driveway.

The judge has driven a similar vehicle with judicial tags.

The photograph was taken by Gibson's ex-wife, Darlene Michelle Gibson, Sources say she took the photograph after Christopher Gibson threatened to use the judge's influence against her in a domestic court battle.

The Gibsons divorced in March 2009 but remain legally bound in matters of child support and custody issues, court records show.

It's not clear when the photograph was taken or when she turned the photograph over to attorney Russell Greene.

Greene has, court records show, represented both the Gibsons in the past. Greene served as Darlene Gibson's attorney in 2008 when she was charged with shoplifting from a Sears store in Knoxville. He represented Christopher Gibson in a 2004 case in which Darlene Gibson was one of the victims.

Greene was contacted by the TBI days before Baumgartner took a leave and was asked to turn over the photograph. It's not known how the agency became aware of the photograph or how long the agency has been investigating the judge's alleged illegal procurement of prescription painkillers.

Greene declined comment Thursday and referred questions to his attorney, Gregory P. Isaacs.

Isaacs said Greene consulted his firm after the initial contact from the TBI.

"Initially, Mr. Greene and our firm declined to produce the photograph," Isaacs said.

Greene relented, Isaacs said, only after the TBI obtained a client confidentiality waiver from Darlene Gibson and Isaacs' firm obtained an opinion from the state Board of Professional Responsibility, which polices lawyers, that Greene should turn over the photograph.

"This decision was made after careful and deliberate review of Mr. Greene's ethical and professional duties as an attorney," Isaacs said. "I want to be perfectly clear both Mr. Greene and our law firm have the highest regard for Judge Richard Baumgartner."

Christopher Gibson pleaded guilty in April 2007 at a hearing before Baumgartner. The plea agreement shows he received a four-year probationary term for aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. His probation would have expired this April but for the violation warrant filed by Schmutzer last week.

Neither Schmutzer nor the judge's defense attorney, Donald A. Bosch, would comment on Christopher Gibson's role in the probe.

All phone numbers contained in court files for Christopher Gibson and his ex-wife were disconnected, including the business number for Gibson's drilling company. The News Sentinel did reach the couple's 18-year-old son, who confirmed his father "was the one under investigation" but declined to reveal his father's whereabouts or relay a message to him.

Christopher Gibson has a history of assaults involving gunplay and threats. He has convictions in the early 1990s for aggravated assault and aggravated robbery. In the case that led to his 2007 plea before Baumgartner, Christopher Gibson was accused of forcing Darlene Gibson into his truck. When friends sought to intervene, Christopher Gibson threatened them at gunpoint and opened fire on their car in a parking lot at a busy intersection in North Knoxville. An off-duty Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy, a state probation officer and a Knoxville Police Department officer who were traveling separately all witnessed the gunfire, according to warrants.

The TBI is also investigating the relationship between Baumgartner and Deena Castleman, a former defendant in the drug court he oversaw. Castleman said in an interview earlier this week she and the judge were "close friends" but not sexually involved. She said he offered her help, including recommending her for jobs, but insisted he did so because he was "a great judge and a great man."

She acknowledged she had a cell number for Baumgartner. The TBI has asked drug court Director Ron Hanaver about a cell phone the judge asked that the program provide him.

Castleman is a confessed pill addict who is facing charges including possession of painkillers, DUI, burglary and theft.

Baumgartner, who has been on the bench for 19 years and has presided over some of the county's most high-profile trials, is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment at an undisclosed facility. He continues to draw his $154,320 annual salary.

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Judge Baumgartner inquiry targets drug court defendant

She says she is just 'close friends' with judge...

17 February 2011

KNOXVILLE, TENN. -- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing the relationship between a former Knox County Drug Court defendant and Judge Richard Baumgartner, the News Sentinel has learned.

But the defendant at issue - Deena Castleman - insisted in an interview Wednesday that the judge was nothing more than a benevolent benefactor.

"We did become pretty close friends," Castleman said. "He cared about me - not in a sexual way. I looked up to him as a father figure. I love that man but there ain't no sexual attraction about him."

Baumgartner is on medical leave and under a criminal probe by the TBI for the alleged illegal procurement of prescription pills. Special prosecutor Al Schmutzer Jr. has declined to detail the scope of the investigation.

Contacted on Wednesday, Drug Court Director Ron Hanaver confirmed that the TBI served him with a subpoena signed by Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood last week for the release to agents of Castleman's file.

Hanaver had refused an earlier request without a court order because of confidentiality concerns. He also acknowledged that TBI agents quizzed him about Baumgartner's relationship with drug court defendants.

"(The agents asked) if I knew of any complaints or if I heard any complaints from any individuals about Judge Baumgartner" alleging he showed undue favoritism to Castleman or any others, Hanaver said.

Hanaver declined to reveal his answer.

Baumgartner's defense attorney, Donald A. Bosch, said Wednesday night that he did not believe the judge has ever shown "inappropriate favoritism for any participant in his court whether it be drug court" or his regular Criminal Court docket.

Castleman said she was in the drug court program from 2003 to 2008, when she graduated. She said she later "ran into him at the courthouse" and, after discussing her attempt to get a job, he took her to his office and made phone calls to potential employers on her behalf. He also had offered her help with a visitation dispute involving her son and, when she wound up in legal trouble again in 2009, "he told me he would ask one of his friends, (attorney) John Boucher, if he would mind representing me," she said.

Boucher, who since has been appointed to represent Castleman in a slew of charges she has racked up since 2009, was not immediately available for comment.

Castleman also acknowledged that she gave Knox County Sheriff's Office detectives who arrested her for "panhandling" at a Pilot truck stop on Strawberry Plains Pike last May a cell phone number for Baumgartner in hopes of avoiding arrest.

"I was scared," she said. "I was using (drugs). I was high. I said, 'Call Judge B.' "

Hanaver confirmed that Baumgartner came to him "about a year and a half ago" and asked to be supplied by the drug court a cell phone solely for use in the program, which Baumgartner helped found and oversaw.

Hanaver thought it was an odd request since the judge's role in drug court was to meet weekly with drug court defendants to review their progress while Hanaver and his staff actually provided day-to-day case management.

"But when you have a judge ask for something and you have the ability to give it, then you do what the judge asks," he said.

The TBI inquired about the phone when agents interviewed Hanaver. The drug court director said the program itself and its staff of eight are not the subject of any TBI probe. It is continuing to operate in the judge's absence.

Castleman, meanwhile, faces trial on charges including panhandling, possession of prescription painkillers, DUI, breaking into a woman's house and stealing an Xbox game system, and stealing a woman's purse at a Target store. She racked up the charges in four incidents from October 2009 to July 2010.

"Once a revered Knox County Criminal Court judge, Richard Baumgartner on Tuesday shuffled into a federal courtroom in shackles, accused of covering up the drug-trafficking crimes of the mistress he met via a Drug Court program he helped found. Baumgartner, who sent thousands of people to prison in his nearly two-decade-long tenure as judge, was arrested Tuesday as he drove away from his East Knox County farm and hauled into U.S. District Court with shackles on his feet and a chain wrapped around his belly and connected to handcuffs."

-Jamie Satterfield, Knoxville News Sentinel, Former Judge Richard Baumgartner faces 7 federal counts of failing to report felonious activity, May 16, 2012

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