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Paula Skahan
Judge
Criminal Court
Division I
Memphis, Tennessee

Paula Skahan was appointed to Criminal Court, Division 1 by the Governor of Tennessee in December 2004 and is currently serving in that position.

Prior to her appointment, Judge Skahan had been a practicing criminal defense attorney, an Assistant District Attorney General in the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office and an Assistant Public Defender in the Shelby County Public Defender's Office.

Judge Skahan received her Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Cecil C. Humphries School of Law at the University of Memphis.

Judge Skahan is a member of the Association of Women Attorneys and Memphis Bar Association.

W. Otis Higgs, Jr.
Judge
Criminal Court
Division II
Memphis, Tennessee

Otis Higgs was elected to Criminal Court, Division 2 in 1998.

Judge Higgs has been a practicing attorney, Assistant Public Defender, Sheriff of Shelby County and formerly served as Judge of Division IV of the Criminal Courts of Shelby County. He has been a commentator on both radio and television and among the awards he has received were "Most Outstanding Lawyer" and "Most Outstanding Judge". He has written numerous articles and publications and presently serves as the Pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

John P. Colton, Jr.
Judge
Criminal Court
Division III
Memphis, Tennessee

John P. Colton, Jr. was elected to Criminal Court, Division III in 1990, re-elected in 1998, and is currently serving in this position.

Judge Colton received both his B. S. Degree in 1961 and his L. L. B. Degree from University of Memphis. His post graduate work was at Northwestern University in 1972 and National Judicial College in 1992.

Judge Colton served as Assistant Public Defender, Shelby County, 1965-1976. He was a practicing Attorney from 1978-1990 and served as Special Appellate Judge, State of Tennessee in 1994. Some organizations Judge Colton has been involved with are American Trial Lawyers Association, American Judicature Society, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association (past Vice-President and Board Member), and Young Lawyers of Memphis (President).

Carolyn Wade Blackett
Judge
Criminal Court
Division IV
Memphis, Tennessee

Carolyn Wade Blackett was appointed Judge of Division IV of the Shelby County Criminal Court by the Governor of Tennessee and is currently serving in that position. She was the first female Criminal Court Judge in Shelby County and the first African American female Criminal Court State Judge in the State of Tennessee.

Judge Blackett earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree in 1982 from St. Louis University School of Law in St. Louis. Upon graduation, Judge Blackett was a practicing attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, Federal Express Corporation and Waring Cox Law firm until she received the appointment to Criminal Court Judge in September 1994. Judge Blackett has stood successfully for re-election twice in Shelby County and was most recently, unopposed for an eight-year term.

Judge Blackett has also served as Treasurer of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and has served as an instructor for new judges during judicial orientation. Judge Blackett has also attended and successfully completed courses at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

Jim Lammey
Judge
Criminal Court
Division V
Memphis, Tennessee

Jim Lammey was elected to Criminal Court, Division 5 in August 2007 and is currently serving in that position.

Judge Lammey was raised in the Whitehaven area where he attended Bishop Byrne High School. He graduated from Southaven High School in 1975 and from Ole Miss in 1980 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Judge Lammey worked in Louisiana for five years in the oil and gas production business. He designed, installed, serviced and sold production equipment.

In the late 1980’s Judge Lammey returned to Memphis to attend law school. He graduated from law school at the University of Memphis in 1989 and thereafter served as an Assistant District Attorney for over16 years. As an Assistant District Attorney, Judge Lammey served in the Major Violators Unit, the Violent Crimes Prosecution Unit and as a Division Leader responsible for supervising personnel and cases in Criminal Court. His primary responsibility was the prosecution of homicides.

Judge Lammey and his wife have been married for 18 years and are the parents of four wonderful children.

John T. Fowlkes, Jr.
Judge
Criminal Court
Division VI
Memphis, Tennessee

Lee V. Coffee
Judge
Criminal Court
Division VII
Memphis, Tennessee

Lee V. Coffee was elected to Shelby County Criminal Court, Division VII in August 2006 and is currently serving in that position.

Judge Coffee received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Judge Coffee received his law degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Prior to his election, Judge Coffee had been an Assistant District Attorney General for the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office. He had been employed previously as an Assistant United State's Attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, an Assistant Public Defender with the Shelby County Public Defender's Office and as an Assistant District Attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office in Houston, Texas.

Judge Coffee is a member of the Tennessee Trial Judges Association, the Tennessee Judicial Council, the Texas Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and is an Instructor at the National Advocacy Center.

Chris Craft
Judge
Criminal Court
Division VIII
Memphis, Tennessee

Chris Craft was appointed to Judge of Division VIII of the Shelby County Criminal Court in 1994 and was elected to that position in 1996, where he currently serves.

Judge Craft received his undergraduate degree from University of Memphis and his law degree from University of Memphis Law School. His post graduate work consists of Vanderbilt University - 1969-1972 and Memphis Theological Seminary - 1979-1980.

W. Mark Ward
Judge
Criminal Court
Division IX
Memphis, Tennessee

W. Mark Ward was appointed to the Thirtieth District Criminal Court, Division IX by the Governor of Tennessee in December 2004 and is currently serving in that position.

Judge Ward received a Bachelor Degree and Master of Arts Degree from the University of Memphis. He also holds a Master of Arts from Memphis Theological Seminary. He is a graduate of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

Judge Ward has served as law clerk to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. He has been a private practitioner of law, an Assistant Public Defender of Shelby County and an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Memphis. In 2000, he litigated the high profile case of Rogers v. Tennessee, which he argued before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Judge Ward currently teaches criminal procedure as an Adjunct Instructor at the School of Law at the University of Memphis. He is the author of Tennessee Criminal Trial Practice that is designed to serve the needs of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.

Judge Ward is a member of the Memphis, Tennessee and American Bar Associations. He is a former Chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the Tennessee Bar Association and has served as President of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 1998, he was awarded the Tennessee Bar Association's Public Service Attorney of the Year Award; and in 2000-2001 he was Chair of the Board of the Community Legal Center.

James C. Beasley, Jr.
Judge
Criminal Court
Division X
Memphis, Tennessee

James C. Beasley, Jr. was appointed to Criminal Court, Division X in 1995 and is currently serving in that position.

Judge Beasley received both his undergraduate degree and his law degree from Memphis State University.