Court rejects appeal of former Collierville teacher Michael Halliburton

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has denied the appeal of former Collierville teacher Michael Halliburton.

Halliburton, 56, who taught history and German at Collierville High, was convicted and sentenced to 21 years for trying to kill his wife in 2012.

Virginia Halliburton said he attacked her in their Germantown home Sept. 6, 2012. He kicked, choked and repeatedly beat his wife with a metal knife-sharpening rod after she told him that day she wanted a divorce.

She survived injuries to her head, face and hands. The couple's daughter defended her mother from the attack and was able to get the weapon away from him.

“The worst part is not what happened to me," Virginia Halliburton testified previously. "It’s the fact that my 15-year-old daughter had to stop her father from trying to kill her mother."

On Tuesday, the appellate court affirmed the jury's rejection of Michael Halliburton's insanity defense and found that the state presented substantial evidence that he was mentally capable.

"The victim testified that the defendant calmly told her he was going to kill her before beating her and 'knew exactly what he was doing' during the attack," the court wrote. "In addition, the victim, the Halliburtons‟ daughter, and (neighbor) Charles Penland all testified that although the defendant beat the victim, he never injured his daughter, which indicates that the defendant appreciated both the nature and wrongfulness of his actions toward the victim."

During the trial, prosecutors Sam Winnig and Karen Cook said the Halliburtons had a troubled marriage, and that on the day of the attack Michael Halliburton told his wife he was going to hit her and that she wouldn't be able to get back up. Defense attorney Blake Ballin argued that Halliburton was suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disorder and was having a psychotic episode at the time of the attack. Halliburton told the jury that during the attack she appeared to him as looking like a faceless monster with claws, and as having the head of a pig.

In the appellate decision, the court also disagreed with Halliburton's argument that the trial court should not have allowed 20 crime-scene photos showing a blood trail from the house's den to the garage, 11 photos of the victim's injuries and the daughter's bloody clothes.

Read the full opinion here:

Halliburton Michael court of criminal appeals