Case: In re Petition of Knox County Public Defender

(This summary is temporary, while we research the case.)

In this case, the Knox County (Tennessee) Public Defender, Mark Stevens, filed a petition in the misdemeanor division of the general sessions court, complaining that too-high caseloads rendered the Public Defender's office unable to offer ethical representation. In an unusual trial, the case was heard by all of the General Sessions Judges in Knox County, sitting en banc; they decided against the petitioner. He appealed the decision to the Chancery Court on a writ of certiorari; it was assigned the docket number 174552-L. Apparently, the petitioner lost there, as well, and began a further appeal, to the state Court of Appeals of Tennessee, No. E2010-01665-COA-R3-CV. At that point, the case was settled.