Three names sent to governor for new Criminal Court judge
Michael Moser, Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
6 min read
Jul. 20—After a nearly five-hour hearing, three names were selected on first ballot from five applicants to be submitted to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. It will be Lee who will appoint one to the newly created position of Criminal Court Judge Part III in the 13th Judicial District.
The five candidates facing the panel of 11 members of the commission were William M. Blaylock, Sparta, an administrative law judge/hearing officer for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development; Rebecca Brady, Baxter, a former Department of Children's Services attorney now working in the child support division of the District Attorney's Office; Shawn C. Fry, Cookeville, a general practice attorney who has had four years experience in the District Attorney's Office; Brandon S. Griffin, Sparta, a private practice attorney with satellite offices in two other counties in addition to his White County office; and Benjamin Marsee of Cookeville, who previously worked in the Public Defender's Office and in the division of workman's compensation for the Tennessee Department of Labor.
The three names being forwarded to Gov. Lee or his consideration are Fry, Griffin and Marsee.
The district is served by Chancellor Ron Thurman and two Civil Court Judges — Carolyn Knight and William Ridley — and two Criminal Court judges, Wesley Bray and Gary McKenzie.
The 13th Judicial District is said to be one of the largest geographically in Tennessee. Counties in the district are Cumberland, Clay, Dekalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White.
While focus of the new position will be to provide a face for both victims and the accused in the outlying counties on a more regular basis, the new position is expected to be asked to cross over and preside over civil court when the need arises.
The governor is under no deadline to make his appointment but it is expected the names would be immediately forwarded to Gov. Lee's office. The law creating the new position states the appointee will take office on Sept. 1 and within six weeks decide whether to run for a full term as Criminal Court judge.
Commission Chair Dean William C. Koch Jr. of the Nashville School of Law opened the meeting opening the hearing with introduction of members who were all present. He then reminded members of the commission of their responsibility to declare any conflicts they may have in participating in the proceedings.
This caused 13th Judicial District Public Defender Craig Fickling, a member of the commission representing state public defenders, to opt out of participating in the public hearing. "I have nothing but potential conflicts ... I will not be questioning the applicants and will not be voting."
As Public Defender, Fickling has worked with the majority of applicants during his law career and he further declined any comment during the hearing.
This left ten voting members on the commission and Koch reminded the commission it would take six votes for three candidates to forward that person's name to the governor.
Each applicant was allowed to introduce themselves to the commission. Shawn Fry was introduced by Judge Wesley Bray and Ben Marsee was introduced by District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway. Letters of endorsement from politicians and officials is not known.
The public was then given an opportunity to speak and former Assistant District Attorney Brent Gunn rose to speak against Fry and in the end, endorsing Marsee. He came to the 13th Judicial District and served as an assistant DA for a period of time.
His presentation was laced with degrading comments about the way business has been conducted in the court system, at one point calling the local process "middle school."
"Litigants before the judges in this district don't get a fair shake because things are not decided as they should be," Gunn told the commission. Decisions are based "on who grandstands the most or who yells the loudest," he added in his three-minute remarks.
In the end, he suggested Marsee was an excellent candidate for the job.
When it was his turn to address the commission, Fry said he was considering a response to Gunn's anticipated comments. Gunn alluded to a letter and tape he had sent members of the commission, which alerted Fry as to what would come Tuesday.
Fry told the commission a sermon in church Sunday changed his mind and he decided it was in his best interest not to respond. The theme of that sermon, Fry said, was "to let it go and move on," adding he hoped Gunn's comments to the commission afforded him the opportunity to "get things off his chest, and, I hope he's able to move on."
Before lunch, three of the five applicants faced the commission in a question and answer face-to-face session. They were Blaylock, Brady and Fry. All of the candidates were asked basic questions ranging from their background, what they enjoyed doing when relaxing and whether they planned to run for the position in the next election.
Blaylock was the only applicant said he did not plan to seek election to a full term, citing his rules in his present position that prohibit him working in a federally funded position and seeking election to a political office. Blaylock did not return for the afternoon session.
Family and children was another area commission members asked the candidates.
After lunch, Griffin and Marsee faced the commission, being asked the same or similar questions. Each candidate in morning and afternoon session stood before the commission for 30-45 minutes fielding questions.
At conclusion of the questioning portion of the hearing, Commission Member David Purkey, former Tennessee Homeland Security commissioner who has also held other state positions, commented, "This has been a good day ... all the candidates are well qualified.
"The most difficult decision for this commission is when we go to a district and all of the candidates are qualified," said commission member David Purkey. "We go to some districts and some (candidates) are not qualified, so it's to everyone's credit today that this has been a good day."
With Fickling excusing himself from the proceedings due to conflict, ten members then voted around 2:36 p.m. Koch, after several minutes, then announced three names received six votes each qualifying them to be forwarded to Lee for consideration.
The hearing was sparsely attended by family members of the applicants, attorneys, persons working in the legal profession and inside the district and a few local elected officials. The time of the hearing prevented others from being able to attend the session.
