NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Judge Cheryl Blackburn confirmed to NewsChannel 5 she is retiring from the bench after nearly 30 years in Davidson County.
She has held this position for 29 years, having been originally appointed by the late Gov. Don Sundquist in 1996.
Currently, she is the longest-serving criminal court judge in Davidson County.
"The greatest honor of my professional career has been to serve the public as a criminal court judge," Blackburn said.
During her time on the bench, she oversaw tens of thousands of criminal matters and presided over hundreds of trials.
In 2010, she tried the bizarre case of Kelly Cannon who was convicted in the strangulation murder of her attorney husband. Later in 2019, she presided over the trial of Emanuel Samson who terrorized church members at Burnette Chapel in Antioch, killing one woman and wounding six others before being subdued.
Blackburn suffered a stroke in 2021 and later returned to the bench. But last summer is when she started struggling, according to reporting from our partners at the Nashville Banner.
The outlet reported Blackburn stumbled over her words while addressing the jury, repeating or restarting words as she spoke during a first-degree murder trial. Per the Banner, she appeared to fall asleep multiple times. The Banner was present for four of the trial’s five days, each of which featured moments when the judge seemed confused, tongue-tied or asleep.
Back in April, Judge Blackburn agreed to reduce Bricen Rivers’ bond from $250,000 to $150,000. He went from walking out of the Davidson County jail to being accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Lauren Johansen roughly seven hours away.
She wrote in court documents obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates that conviction likelihood was "high" in the case because of the body camera footage from police officers and the audio recording from inside the car. Blackburn noted there was no testimony that Rivers had any prior criminal history.
Blackburn is scheduled to retire on May 31, 2025.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email newsroom@newschannel5.com.
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-Lelan Statom
