Appeals court upholds murder conviction of Knoxville widow

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A three-judge appellate court panel has affirmed the murder conviction of Raynella Dosssett Leath of Knoxville.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the court held there is no evidence that former Judge Richard Baumgartner was impaired during Leath's two trials.

Leath's first trial in the shooting death of her second husband, David Leath, ended with a hung jury. She was convicted in 2010 at her second trial and sentenced to life in prison.

Leath is also the widow of former Knox County prosecutor Ed Dossett, who was terminally ill when he died in 1992. His death was initially attributed to him being trampled by livestock.

Leath had also been charged in Dossett's death, but prosecutors dropped the charge after her conviction in the death of her second husband.