Justice on display: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals holds session at UTC

From left, judges Tom Greenholtz, Jill Bartee Ayers and Kyle A. Hixson of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals preside over cases in the UTC Library Roth Grand Reading Room on Oct. 23, 2024. Photo by Angela Foster.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals took to the road and heard three cases in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library’s Roth Grand Reading Room, allowing UTC students the opportunity to witness the legal process in action.

Judges Jill Bartee Ayers, Tom Greenholtz and Kyle A. Hixson presided over appeals involving second-degree murder, first-degree murder and a post-conviction relief petition. Each session featured oral arguments from attorneys on both sides followed by a Q&A, where students engaged with the lawyers to deepen their understanding of courtroom procedures and legal strategy.

The judges will now issue a written opinion about each case, with decisions taking approximately two months.

“What you see on Wednesday fundamentally is three judges discussing a case with a lawyer,” said Greenholtz, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University in 1996 and a J.D. degree from UT College of Law in 1999. He was unanimously confirmed to the Court of Criminal Appeals – Eastern Section by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022 and appointed to the intermediate appellate court by Gov. Bill Lee.

Greenholtz, who spent 13 years in private practice in Chattanooga prior to becoming a judge, said court leadership has wanted to get out into the community more often. Typically, the court rotates between Supreme Court buildings in Knoxville (Eastern Section), Nashville (Middle Section) and Jackson (Western Section).

Established in 1967 to alleviate the Tennessee Supreme Court’s growing workload, the Court of Criminal Appeals serves as an intermediate appellate court reviewing criminal case appeals from trial courts statewide. Composed of 12 judges, the court addresses matters such as convictions, sentencing and post-conviction relief, focusing on legal errors rather than holding jury trials. Decisions made by the court may be appealed further to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Panels of three judges, rotating across various locations, preside over cases. Each judge serves an eight-year term.

Judge Tom Greenholtz

Greenholtz said the court selected cases “more appropriate to a University setting” for the UTC session, focusing on appeals originating from Chattanooga, Loudon County and Knox County.

“We’ve been at Austin Peay, we’ve been at Belmont and we’ve been at the College of Law up at UT, but the Court of Criminal Appeals has never been here,” said Greenholtz, also an adjunct faculty member at UTC since 1999. “Dr. (Michelle) Deardorff and I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to help the court get exposure—but also have our students be exposed to a part of a legal system that they frankly may never see or not know a lot about.

“I am really excited about this opportunity. This is my University. I graduated here from UTC. My wife graduated from UTC. I’ve got a son who’s looking to come here to UTC. So this is not only my hometown University; it’s very close to me.”

Deardorff, the Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Government at UTC, collaborated with Greenholtz for about one year to bring the Court of Criminal Appeals to campus.

“For these students, just getting to court has been a bigger deal since COVID. The fact that the court is coming to them probably has an outsized importance,” Deardorff said.

“The court is coming to them and making it so they can just walk across campus and see it. My hope is once that occurs, the mystique is broken and they’re going to be more likely to participate locally.”

Deardorff said hosting the hearings on campus not only enhances academic learning but also helps to demystify the judicial process for students.

“What’s exciting for students is it makes it a lot more real,” Deardorff said. “Anything we can do to help the public understand the realities of the courts reinforces the value of rule of law, which is a significant part of our mission as an institution.”

Following each argument, the judges—who couldn’t discuss the case—exited the room and went into recess. Students then had the chance to ask the attorneys questions about the respective cases.

After the first case, the students paid close attention and took notes as State Attorney Ronald Coleman and Defense Attorney William Gill explained their roles and shared how they formulated their arguments and their preparation process for court.