Sources |
- [S76] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume III, 1974-1986, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 17 Jan 1974.
John Arnold Griffin obituary
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 24 Feb 1992.
Griffin, Tommy Mayford 24 b. 5/30/67 Sev d. found 2/24/92 DOA Blount Mem Hosp res Bluff Hts Subdiv concrete laborer f. Ben Griffin m. Viola Lewis educa 9 Martin Justin Cem Survivors: m. 816 White School Rd Sev 2 bro James Billy 4 sis Stella Whitted Connie Branam Lucy Griffin Tammy Griffin.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 17 Nov 2005.
Men file for new court trail
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 25 Apr 2007.
Loved ones remember the victims of crimes
By: JEFF FARRELL, Staff Writer
April 25, 2007
SEVIERVILLE - A weeping mother read a poem to her daughter and son-in-law, killed just days after they wed last year. A sister fought back the tears as she spoke of her 15-year battle for justice for her brother and sister.
They and other victims of crime came together Monday along with law enforcement officials, attorneys, and others to remember the victims of crimes as the county commemorated Victims Rights Week.
Darleen Addis read a poem she'd written about her daughter and son-in-law. Brandon and Jennilyn Franklin died when a local man swerved in front of their car on Newport Highway. The alleged driver of that car, Larry Bruce Williamson, had several DUI convictions and was driving on a revoked license.
"Until they bring this case to justice, my life will not be done," Addis said.
Stella Griffin's fight has gone on for 15 years. Two men were convicted of killing her brother, Tommy Griffin, and her sister, Connie Branam Griffin, but the men have filed multiple appeals because they were sentenced to death.
"I am sitting in court somewhere every 15 years, going to appeals," she said.
She wants to see those laws changed, she said - to see less appeals and less dragging out of justice in cases where the crime was so severe that the death penalty is approved.
District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn was there representing his office, but also as a victim. He lost a nephew to a drunk driver more than 20 years ago.
"(He) was a good young man, he never caused any problems," Dunn said, but a drunk driver slid 300 yards into the side of his car and ended his life when he was 17.
Some victims didn't feel comfortable speaking at the ceremony. Golda Coleman and Ann Derrick were there to remember their brother, Chuck Finchum, who died when Dr. Edward Smith's car allegedly careened into the wall of Finchum's house after striking a tree as he attempted to commit suicide. Smith has been charged with first-degree murder in that case.
"Ted Smith didn't just kill Chucky that day," Derrick said. "He killed part of Michelle, he killed part of the family, he killed part of the community...
"I hope justice is done. I hope he gets what he deserves. It was a violent crime that never should have occurred."
The ceremony on the lawn of the Sevier County Courthouse also featured dedication of a new bench beside the tree and plaque that commemorated victims of crime.
The bench, like the tree and the plaque, will give victims and their families a place to reflect, Dunn said. He hoped that others would reflect as well.
"We hope to make this an annual event, and to do as much as we can to remember the victims of crime in the state of Tennessee," he said.
* jfarrell@themountainpress.com
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 24 Jan 2009.
Court orders Dellinger to die June 3
By Darren Dunlap
The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected an appeal Thursday from a death row inmate convicted of murders in Blount County and Sevier County.
James A. Dellinger, who was convicted in the 1992 shooting death of Tommy Griffin, claimed he had ineffective counsel. He identified a number of issues on which he said his conviction and sentence should have been reversed, claiming problems with imposing the state's death penalty among his points.
The court filed a ruling Thursday upholding an appeals court judgment. The court ordered his death sentence be carried out on June 3.
In 1996, Dellinger and Gary Sutton were convicted of first degree murder of Griffin and sentenced to death.
Griffin, 24, was shot at close range with a shotgun, then his body was left alongside Little River in Townsend on Feb. 21, 1992. The body was found on Feb. 24. After an extensive investigation, Blount County authorities charged Sutton and Dellinger with Griffin's murder.
The two Sevier County men were also charged by authorities there with the death of Griffin's sister, 34-year-old Connie Branam, whose charred body was found in her burned out car. Dellinger and Sutton were sentenced to life in prison after their conviction in Sevier County.
The execution date brings some closure for the family, said 52-year-old Stella Griffin, older sister to both victims.
Stella Griffin, a Sevierville resident, went to every trial in Blount County and Sevier County. That was the promise that she made her mother, who died in 1994, that she would go to each one.
"There is so much -- so much that these people have done," said Stella Griffin, 52. "It killed my mama."
She said Dellinger was a neighbor of both Connie's and Tommy's. They all lived on Gibson Hollow Road in Sevier County. Ten days before the murders, Gary Sutton moved in with Dellinger, she recalled.
"They found them guilty. I know God had to be with us," she said. "He's been with us through all of this."
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 24 Jan 2009.
Dellinger loses another appeal
BY JEFF FARRELL
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
NASHVILLE - James Dellinger is another step closer to a June execution after the State Supreme Court overruled his latest appeal for the 1992 murder of Tommy Griffin.
Dellinger and Gary Wayne Sutton were convicted of killing Griffin in Blount County and of killing his sister, Connie Branam, in Sevier County. A Sevier County jury sentenced them to life in prison for Branam's death in 1993. In 1996, A Blount County jury sentenced them to death for killing Griffin.
The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the rulings of the trial and appellate courts. Dellinger's execution is now scheduled for June 3. His victims' sister said she believes justice will finally be served for her siblings.
"I'm so happy," Stella Griffin Whitted said of the news. "I've been going to all their appeals."
During the trial for Branam's death, authorities said that Dellinger and Sutton were the last people seen with Griffin before his body was found with a gunshot wound to the head in Blount County. They had bailed him out of the county jail, where he was taken for public intoxication. In the meantime, authorities said, Dellinger's car was seen near Griffin's home shortly before someone set a fire there.
Prosecutor Al Schmutzer said their reason for killing Griffin wasn't known. The two men had been friendly with Griffin, although authorities said their families had been engaged in a long-running feud.
Schmutzer argued the men killed Branam and burned her body because she was getting close to figuring out they had murdered her brother.
The Sevier County Jury had the option of sentencing both men to death, but instead gave them life sentences for Branam's death. The Blount County Jury considered their conviction in that case when it gave them the death penalty in 1996.
The case has remained in litigation ever since, as their attorneys have issued appeals looking to reverse the conviction or the sentence.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 10 Jun 2009.
Dellinger stay stalls execution set for last week
James Dellinger, convicted for the 1992 murders of Tommy Griffin and Sutton's sister, Connie Branam, remains on death row at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution awaiting a hearing of his appeal to a federal court.
Dellinger, who is 58, was convicted in Sevier County in 1993 for Branam's murder, and was convicted by a Blount County jury in 1996 for Sutton's murder. The Sevier County jury sentenced Dellinger and an accomplice, Gary Wayne Sutton, to life in prison for Branam's murder. The Blount County jury sentenced the men to death for slaying Griffin, citing their conviction for slaying Branam as an aggravating factor that justified the death penalty.
In January, the state Supreme Court overruled an appeal in Dellinger's case and scheduled his execution for June 2. Delllinger later filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the federal court in Knoxville, and that court ordered a stay of execution in April. The case must now make its way through federal courts; the court currently has a status hearing set for August 2010.
Sutton's case is also currently making its way through federal court as well.
Authorities said the duo killed Branam and burned her body in Sevier County after they decided she was getting close to learning the truth about her brother's death. It wasn't known why they killed Griffin, who had been friends with the pair, although their families had a long-running feud with each other, according to authorities.
Dellinger and Sutton were the last people known to have seen Griffin alive before his body was found with a gunshot wound to the head in Blount County. They had bailed him out of the county jail there, where he had been charged with public intoxication. Witnesses reported seeing Dellinger's car near Griffin's house shortly before someone set a fire there.
The Sevier County jury also had the option of sentencing the men to death, but chose to give them life sentences for Branams' death.
The cases have remained in litigation since, as the men have attempted to overturn the sentences or to get new trials.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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