The courtroom tale of Kenneth DeHart, accused of fatally shooting Blount County Deputy Greg McCowan, unfolds as judge and attorneys grapple over the legitimacy of preliminary proceedings and conflict of interest claims; DeHart, whose February 2024 encounter with Blount County Sheriff's Office left one deputy injured, another dead, appeared in court garbed not in jail attire but street clothes, seeking to overturn previous hearings and gain new representation, as reported by WBIR.
DeHart's legal team has called attention to the scheduling of initial hearings in the wake of his arrest, challenging the interaction between prosecutors and Blount County Judge William K. Brewer right after the defendant's apprehension; whereas Craig Garrett, attorney for Brewer, stood against subpoenaing the judge emphasizing, "It's just not allowed in this country, and shouldn't be allowed in this case," data conveyed from a WBIR report.
Further complicating matters, an evident previous attorney-client relationship between DeHart and Garrett prompted Judge Tammy Harrington to quash a subpoena for Brewer amidst assertions that his testimony would bear no new insights beyond what's already known the motion hearing continued into the afternoon while Harrington remained resolute to decide on the matter by the next day, this according to WATE.
Both sides worked through their witnesses, engaging the Public Defender's Office over the rush of the preliminary hearing which DeHart's defense decried as insufficient for adequate preparation, and raising questions regarding the defendant's attempts to secure private counsel in due time a point debated while revealing the intricacies of judicial procedure and lawyer-client dynamics.
