TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 11, 2025

U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson this week threw out three charges against former House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff Cade Cothren and postponed sentencing on their remaining fraud and kickback convictions to Sept. 16. But the pair’s request for a new trial was denied. Tennessee Lookout reports that Richardson found that the inadvertent playing of an unredacted interview with Casada by FBI agents was not enough to merit a new trial. Defense attorneys had argued the tape incriminated Cothren and prejudiced the jury. With regard to the charges thrown out, Richardson said prosecutors failed to prove the men operated as agents of the government. He did not make a decision on whether to hear from an alternate juror who wrote a letter saying she would have voted to acquit the pair.