Appeals court upholds local judge’s ruling in connection with Ooltewah High School rape case

The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals has denied Gatlinburg Police Department Det. Rodney Burns’ request that it overturn a local judge’s ruling, a development that allows Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston to continue prosecuting the case.

Burns is the last adult facing charges in connection with the Ooltewah High School rape case. He filed an interlocutory appeal earlier this year, asking the higher court to reverse Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz’s decision allowing Pinkston to remain on the case.

Burns faces two counts of aggravated perjury in connection with his February 2016 testimony in the case. The offense is a class D felony that carries a sentence of between two and four years in prison. Burns’ case is set for trial in June.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals states that Tennessee’s Supreme Court has repeatedly said, “interlocutory appeals to review pretrial orders or rulings, i.e., those entered before a final judgment, are ‘disfavored,’ particularly in criminal cases.”

The Court of Appeals’ order also states Burns did not “establish a sufficient basis upon which to grant interlocutory review.”