Michael Patrick Leahy: Tennessee House Speaker Sexton’s Proposed Change of One Word in Tennessee Law from ‘Immediate’ to ‘Imminent’ Would Not Have Kept Alleged Killer of Belmont Freshman in Custody

Michael Patrick Leahy, the Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star and CEO of The Star News Network, revealed during a Monday afternoon appearance on “The Matt Murphy Show” that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton responded to The Star‘s fact check of his claims regarding Shaquille Taylor, the alleged killer of Jillian Ludwig, after Leahy’s prior appearance on SuperTalk 99.2 WTN earlier on Monday.

Leahy noted that during Sexton’s Friday appearance on Murphy’s show, he explicitly stated that Ludwig would still be alive if the laws passed by the Tennessee House during the recent special session were passed by the Tennessee State Senate, before.

“I did an interview with Dan Mandis this morning at 7:35. At 8:05, Speaker Sexton called me, and we had a cordial conversation. It began cordial, it became a little feisty,” Leahy revealed. He explained that Sexton asked him to review a separate bill, HB 7036, which did not pass the House, but was on the calendar for a House floor vote on the final day of the special session, but the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned before that vote was held.

The change Sexton sought amounted to swapping one word of a sentence explaining the proper procedure for when a person may be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.

Leahy explained that under current law , Tennessee Code Annotated Section 33-6-403,  a person who “poses an immediate substantial likelihood of serious harm” may be committed, and HB 7036 would have changed the word “immediate” to “imminent.”

Discussing the difference between “immediate” and “imminent,” Murphy interjected, “the layman would call them synonyms.”

Yes, Every Kid

Regardless of the word change, Leahy maintained, “Speaker Sexton’s assertion that Shaquille Taylor would have been in jail had the Senate acted on either legislation [that] passed [HB 7027], or this bill that didn’t pass [HB 7036], is false. The reason is, the key issue here, is when Nashville Magistrate Steven Holzapfel, on September 21, set the bond for Shaquille Taylor on felony auto theft charges at $10,000.”

Leahy noted that when Magistrate Holzapfel set Taylor’s bail at $10,000 for for criminal auto theft charges on September 21, he apparently did not familiarize himself with Taylor’s prior criminal record, as is required by law. Had he done so, bail would have been set much higher or denied.

District Attorney Funk did not challenge the low $10,000 bond set for Taylor on September 21, and he bonded out on September 23. Taylor subsequently failed to appear for his subsequent November 3 hearing, and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Four days later Taylor allegedly shot Ludwig in the head, and she died on November 9.

One prominent Nashville defense attorney noted that the September 21 hearing at which Nashville Magistrate Holzapfel set Taylor’s bond at $10,000 is not the type of hearing where judges assign mental evaluation requirements to determine mental competency of a defendant.

In other words, the proposed change of one word in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 33-6-403 from “immediate” to “imminent” would not have been even relevant to any decisions made by Magistrate Holzapfel on September 21, and would have instead been a consideration undertaken at the November 3 hearing for Taylor, which he skipped.

Leahy said Metro Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk (D) should have “gone before the Nashville magistrate” to assert the seriousness of Taylor’s mental illness and criminal history.

“They did not make that argument, apparently they just missed it or didn’t think it was important.” Leahy charged, “They are, to be blunt, they are coddlers of criminals. That’s the bottom line.” He added that Holzapfel “is also a coddler of criminals, because he was either too lazy, or didn’t care about the previous incident of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”

“We’ve looked at other counties and other judges in similar circumstances.” Leahy said, explaining that other counties would have remanded Taylor for evaluation. “Everything in Metro Nashville leans in favor of criminals and not victims, and the problem isn’t the existing law,” Leahy said. “The problem is the failure to aggressively pursue existing law.”

Leahy added that blame for the release of career criminal Shaquille Taylor, who shot Ludwig in the head on November 7, is shared by Judge Angelita Dalton, who dismissed previous aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges against Taylor in May 2023, after a three doctor panel declared Taylor mentally incompetent to stand trial but not sufficiently incompetent to be involuntarily committed for treatment, those three doctors, Nashville Magistrate Stephen Holzapfel, and District Attorney Funk.

“They’re all leaning left and coddling criminals,” said Leahy. He added, “Every aspect of the Metro Nashville legal system.”

Leahy concluded by questioning why Sexton would champion Funk, an elected Democrat, over conservative prosecutors in other Tennessee counties.

“He’s listening to the Democrat district attorney in one of the two blue counties, one of the two progressive counties, in the entire state,” said Leahy. “Why is he listening to that person, and not listening to the 93 other district attorneys in conservative counties? That would be the logical thing to do.”

Watch the full segment:

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Speaker Cameron Sexton” by Speaker Cameron Sexton.

 

 

 

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  1. Randy

    Cameron Sexton might just as well switch caucuses. He has taken up lying to the public like a Democrat. Why are the other members of the State Legislature calling on Sexton to explain his false statements? The number one job of an elected official is to serve the interests of the public. If you are unwilling or unable to do so perhaps you should resign and go spend more time with your family.

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