Judge delays trial of Bradley County Sheriff Watson

A judge has delayed Bradley County, Tenn., Sheriff Eric Watson’s trial on a dozen felony counts related to forged auto titles, court documents show.

Watson’s trial was set for Nov. 27 on six counts of holding an altered, forged or falsified vehicle title and using an altered, forged or falsified title.

Each charge is a Class E felony punishable by one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000 upon conviction.

Watson’s attorney, James F. Logan Jr. , contends in court filings that the state hasn’t offered any evidence the sheriff violated Tennessee law or had fraudulent intent.

His key point: The law says it’s a crime to possess or use, with fraudulent intent, an altered certificate of title or registration issued by the state Department of Motor Vehicles or a Tennessee county clerk.

Watson doesn’t deny that he altered some car titles, but those titles were issued by the state of Florida for vehicles he bought there, Logan said in court documents. That’s not a violation of Tennessee law.

Logan also asserts that the law subsection under which Watson is charged is so undefined as to be unconstitutional or fails to include a required element of the crime.

“It’s at best ambiguous, if not totally vague,” Logan said Monday evening.

The notice from Special Judge Don Ash in the court file said he wanted to explore Logan’s constitutional question and parties would get together Nov. 27 to reset the trial date.

The Times Free Press reported in December that Watson had bought at least 11 vehicles in Florida and Washington, D.C., in August 2016 and brought them back to Tennessee to sell.

The Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission opened a complaint against Watson for not having a dealer’s license and issued him a warning.

A Bradley County grand jury returned six felony charges against Watson in July alleging he held or used forged or falsified titles in of those vehicle sales. Watson challenged the counts, saying the “either-or” language could lead to a nonunanimous jury verdict. The grand jury clarified the charges in September and returned 12 separate counts. The original six counts were dismissed.

Though Ash’s decision to delay the Nov. 27 trial could be good for Watson’s case, Logan objected in a motion that it’s bad for his political career.

Not only would a delay cause complications for witnesses and others, he wrote in a motion objecting to the continuance, his client would be “irreparably harmed” if the criminal case against him continues into election season. His motion said Ash could avoid the constitutional issue and dismiss charges against Watson just by finding that the altered Florida titles don’t violate Tennessee law.

Noting that qualifying petitions will be available starting this week for the May primary, Logan said a judicial continuance could lead to “absurd results in this election.”

“If Watson qualifies and is subsequently convicted, an essentially unpopular person might be the winner of the primary,” he wrote.