Charlie Pittman, former Christian ministries student, withdrew his motion for a new trial Tuesday morning.
Pittman filed the handwritten motion requesting a new trial date and a change of counsel Sept. 25. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and evidence tampering in connection with the death of Olivia Greenlee Aug. 6. Since then, he has been serving the beginning of concurrent 40-year and 6-year sentences at Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville.
According to the motion, Pittman said he “did not fully understand the plea and felt unjustly pressured by my attornies [sic] to accept the deal. The agreement was signed before all of the evidence was returned from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and did not even have a chance to discuss all of the TBI’s evidence with counsel.”
Attorney Joseph Howell represented Pittman instead of public defender George Googe, who represented him in every previous hearing.
Greenlee was found dead Feb. 12, 2014 in her 2001 Toyota Corolla in the parking lot behind Luther Hall, an auxiliary building on Union’s campus. A 9mm handgun was found inside the locked car, and the preliminary cause of death was a single gunshot wound, according to the affidavit of complaint.
