Contributed Photo / Twelfth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel Twelfth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel has been appointed to preside over a case in which Tenth Judicial District Attorney General Steve Crump stands accused of being blackmailed into securing a conviction in a 2018 second-degree murder trial.
Crump has denied the allegations, which came to light when Chattanooga attorney Bill Speek filed a series of motions seeking a new trial for his client, Miranda Cheatham, who was convicted in the killing of her husband, James Cheatham, in 2016. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison, though she has maintained she was acting in self-defense.
Judge Andrew Mark Freiberg recused himself from the case last month.
“Living and residing within this community has meant exposure to pervasive sources of alleged information, opinions and commentary about this case preventing the continued ability to be a fair and impartial jurist,” Freiberg wrote in his order of recusal.
Angel was later appointed by Judge J. Michael Sharp, the 10th Judicial District’s current presiding judge.