Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz, in a 27-page opinion, has declined to disqualify District Attorney General Neal Pinkston from continuing to handle the case in which Gatlinburg detective Rodney Burns is charged with perjury.
Attorneys for Burns said DA Pinkston should get off the case because he had a conflict since Burns had filed a civil claim against him alleging that the district attorney had defamed him in comments to the news media.
The motion to disqualify also said DA Pinkston may become a witness in the case.
DA Pinkston earlier said he should not be ruled off the case, saying that would set a precedent for others charged with crimes to file similar motions.
The perjury charges relate to testimony given by Burns in Hamilton County Juvenile Court on charges against three Ooltewah High athletic department members for not reporting an assault on several freshmen basketball players at a cabin in Gatlinburg.
Judge Greenholtz said, "In this case, an ordinary knowledgeable citizen, fully acquainted with the facts, would not find that General Pinkston's continued participation in this case would be improper. Such a citizen, fully acquainted with the facts, would know that the criminal allegations asserted against Mr. Burns were independently investigated by the TBI and that an indictment was so based upon this investigation. Such a citizen would also know that Mr. Burns filed his civil claim only after he was aware that a TBI investigation had been initiated, a fact tending to show that the investigation was not brought in response to the filing of the civil claim."