On Monday, April 21, 2014, attorneys for Local Episcopal Parties filed a Motion for Stay and Response to Motion to Set Aside Order on Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond.
The motion begins, “Four years ago, Defendants argued to this Court: `[A] substantial amount of the Court’s time and the parties’ money must be spent—and potentially wasted—if the . . . claims must be tried before there is an appeal.’ The same is true today. Although the Texas Supreme Court reversed this Court’s judgment, Plaintiffs intend to petition the United States Supreme Court for review. In the meantime, Plaintiffs ask for nothing more than the same relief that Defendants asked for and received: preservation of the status quo pending resolution of the appeal.”
The motion also requests that while the appeal continues, Judge John P. Chupp’s order “requiring Defendants to post security and refrain from mishandling the property should stay in place” and recalls the reasons those protections were instituted.
The Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., said, “Our legal team continues to move steadily forward on our litigation, seeking to protect our rights and our historic property that has been within The Episcopal Church in this region as far back as 1838. I ask your prayers and continued faithfulness as we continue with our worship and ministries in this Easter season.”