Legal News (Page 7)
This section provides a historical record of legal actions regarding the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
In addition to news articles below, the Texas judicial system maintains a list of each action on the case related to our diocese on their page, along with links to documents.
Click here to view the court’s records related to this case.
Court rules in favor of Episcopal Church in El Paso
On December 16, 2010 the district court in El Paso County, Texas signed a final summary judgment in favor of The Episcopal Church and its Diocese of the Rio Grande against a faction formerly with St. Francis Episcopal Church that attempted to control parish property after they left the Church in October 2008. A copy of the Final Summary Judgment is here. The court’s ruling is the second by a Texas district court to grant judgment for the Church and its…
Local Episcopal parties file amended documents in partial summary judgement case
On December 21, 2010 the Local Episcopal Parties (Bishop Ohl and other diocesan officials) filed amended documents in preparation for the January 14, 2010 hearing on their Amended Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. The amended motion adds a ground for summary judgment and supporting argument reflecting the rulings in the Schofield opinion regarding the Diocese of San Joaquin, which opinion was issued after the local motion was filed; Two supplemental exhibits were added to the summary judgment evidence in support…
U.S. District Court Judge issues order staying proceedings on Diocesan trademark case
On December 20, 2010 U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means issued an order staying the proceedings in the Diocesan trademark case, Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth v. Iker, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. As a result the court will consider the motions to intervene filed by the Iker-related Southern Cone factions calling themselves the “Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth” and the “Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth” before…
Defendant Jack L. Iker Files Delay Motion in Federal Court
On Thursday, December 16, 2010, Defendant Jack L. Iker, former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, filed a delay motion in United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, attempting to put off answering the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth’s motion for partial summary judgment by seeking “an emergency stay.” The diocese filed the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment to protect its federally-registered name and seal from infringement by Bishop Iker. In his motion, Bishop…
Bishop Ohl Files Motion to Compel Southern Cone Faction to Produce Property Ownership Records
On Thursday, December 16, 2010, counsel for Bishop C. Wallis Ohl filed a motion to compel the Southern Cone faction’s production of documents related to ownership of diocesan and parish property in the case pending before Judge John P. Chupp, presiding judge of the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. On November 9, 2010, Bishop Ohl had requested that the Southern Cone faction produce all documents showing descriptions of and any ownership interests in the properties that the Southern…
Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth Files Federal Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
On Monday, December 13, 2010, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment with the Hon. Terry R. Means, District Judge in the Northern District of Texas, to protect its federally-registered name and seal from infringement by former bishop Jack Iker. The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth has been using its historic name and seal for nearly thirty years. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the Episcopal Diocese two federally-registered service marks…
Judge John P. Chupp Disposes of Motion to Disclose Potential Conflicts
On Thursday, December 9, 2010, the Hon. John P. Chupp, judge of the 141st District Court, disposed of the latest procedural motion filed by attorneys for former Bishop Jack L. Iker and other former diocesan officials. After waiting 18 months, the Defendants had filed a Motion for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts, asking that the judge “fully disclose on the record whether he, his family members, or his court staff: are members of any of the churches, congregations, schools or other…
California Appeals Court Recognizes Episcopal Church’s Determinations in San Joaquin Litigation
On November 18, 2010, the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Fifth Appellate District, issued its long-awaited opinion on the appeal from the partial judgment rendered in the dispute between the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and its former bishop. The decision strongly affirms the position of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth in its pending litigation with its former bishop and other former diocesan officials. A copy of the opinion and a news release from the Episcopal…
Episcopal Parishes and Missions Join Diocesan Litigation
On Friday, November 12, 2010, ten continuing Episcopal parishes and 38 continuing missions of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth were added as parties to the diocesan litigation pending in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County in Fort Worth. Bishop C. Wallis Ohl filed an amended petition on behalf of the 38 diocesan missions; parishes filed a plea in intervention through members of their vestries and/or clergy. View copies of the Individual Plaintiffs’ Fifth Amended Original Petition and the Original Plea in…
New Episcopal Filings Focus on the Merits
On October 18, 2010, The Episcopal Church and local Episcopal parties filed updated pleadings and motions for summary judgment in the case pending against former diocesan leaders in the 141st District Court, Tarrant County, Texas. [See detailed list here.] The Court has set a hearing on the motions for summary judgment for 9:00 a.m. on Friday, January 14, 2011 in the courtroom of the 141st District Court. Texas. Rules of Court provide that the defendants’ responses must be filed seven days before…
Diocese files trademark suit in U. S. district court
On September 21, 2010 the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth against its former bishop, Jack Leo Iker, seeking damages and an injunction against his use of the name “Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth” and the diocesan seal, both continually in use by the Diocese since 1983. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Terry Means. Iker and others left The Episcopal Church in 2008 but continue to use the…
Iker Group Fails in Procedural Motion in Tarrant County Case
On September 14, 2010 the Southern Cone parties failed in their attempt to obtain a ruling that they, and not the Episcopal parties, were the continuing “Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth” and “Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.” The attorneys for former Bishop Jack Iker and other former diocesan leaders filed a “motion to correct style of case,” asking Judge John Chupp to drop the names of the Diocese and Corporation as plaintiffs and to identify Iker’s group…
New filings in Tarrant County District Court; Hood County case abated
Two significant actions have occurred in the litigation in which the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is involved. First, on August 13 and August 27, 2010, several amended pleadings were filed in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, in part to comply with the June 25, 2010 Court of Appeals decision. Second, on September 2, 2010, Judge Ralph H. Walton, Jr., judge of the 355th District Court of Hood County, granted the Episcopal parties’ second motion to abate [stop]…
Diocese and Episcopal Church filed a second amended petition
On August 13, 2010 The Episcopal Church and the Bishop, Standing Committee, Corporation Trustees, and Trustees for the Fund for the Endowment of the Episcopate filed a second amended petition, adding new parties to assert claims for declaratory relief against the Southern Cone officials, in their individual and official capacities, who still maintain possession and control of the real and personal property of the Diocese, Diocesan Corporation and Endowment Fund. As stated in earlier pleadings, church property accumulated in the…
Episcopalians reclaim St Anne’s church in the Diocese of San Diego
[U-T San Diego, OCEANSIDE] — The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego reclaimed its Oceanside church on Sunday with its first service since a conservative faction seized control of the building four years ago. “It’s like a homecoming,” church member Jack Plummer said Sunday as he stood outside St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. “In the Old Testament, you read about a time of jubilation, and it’s one of those times.” In 2006, a majority of the congregation at St. Anne’s voted to…
Second Court of Appeals issues opinion on procedural matters
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth issued an opinion late Friday, June 25, granting the Southern Cone parties’ petition for writ of mandamus regarding the order of the 141st District Court ruling on the Southern Cone parties’ Rule 12 motion. The Court’s decision said there is one Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and one Corporation of the Diocese of Fort Worth. The procedural ruling was based on Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 12 and expressly was not a…