News (Page 100)
Hearing Set on Supersedeas Bond and Injunction Pending Appeal
[Note: since hearing date was first announced, there has been a change. Due to a scheduling conflict of one of the breakaway Defendants’ attorneys, the hearing on the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Tender Orders has been reset for Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in the 141st District Court in Fort Worth.] Despite four months of negotiations, the parties have failed to reach an agreement on the conditions that the breakaway Defendants must meet in order to stop…
July 21 Hearing Rescheduled for July 28
The ten-minute hearing on the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Tender Orders has been rescheduled from July 21 to July 28, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in the Courtroom of the 141st District Court in Fort Worth.
Local Episcopal Parties Submit Proposed Orders to Judge Chupp
On June 24, 2011, the Local Episcopal Parties filed their Motion to Tender Orders with the 141st District Court of Tarrant County. The hearing on the motion is set for Thursday, July 21 at 10:30 a.m., for about ten minutes. On February 8, 2011, the Honorable Judge Chupp ruled – like courts across Texas and around the nation – that the breakaway defendants who left The Episcopal Church must cease holding themselves out as the Episcopal Diocese and must return historic Church…
Parties File Jurisdictional Statements in Texas Supreme Court
On June 16, 2011 the Episcopal Parties filed their response to the breakaway defendants’ statement of jurisdiction in the Texas Supreme Court. A copy of the breakaways’ statement is here; a copy of the Episcopal response is here. The Rt. Rev. C. Wallis Ohl, provisional bishop of Fort Worth, said, “We remain encouraged by Judge Chupp’s rulings in our favor. I know we all are eager to be reunited with those who have been separated from us, but I urge everyone…
Hearing on Supersedeas Recessed
At the hearing in May 19 on the supersedeas and injunction motions, Judge John P. Chupp heard testimony from witnesses for the Local Episcopal Parties, including experts on real property and forensic accounting; considered affidavits from the Defendants; and heard legal arguments from attorneys on both sides. Before announcing his ruling, Judge Chupp invited the parties to confer in the hope of reaching an agreement on these issues. The attorneys met in the jury room, with Bishop Ohl present, and…
Local Episcopal Parties Prepare for Hearing on Southern Cone Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond and Motion for Additional Protection
On 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, 2011, Judge John P. Chupp of the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas will hear evidence and legal arguments on (1) the breakaway Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond and (2) the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion for Additional Protection, both filed April 25, and (3) the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Strike the Affidavits of Jane R. Parrott, filed May 16. On Tuesday, May 17, the Local Episcopal Parties filed their response…
Judge Chupp Resets Supersedeas Hearing for May 19, Orders Discovery
On April 28, Judge John P. Chupp granted in part the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Continue and for Additional Protection and reset the hearing on the Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas and the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion for Additional Protection for May 19, 2011. Because the hearing has been continued for a date after May 5, he also, with agreement of the Episcopal parties, stayed (suspended) until further order the effective date of the permanent injunctions included in the…
Episcopalians Seek Additional Protection for Church Property While on Appeal
On April 25, 2011 the Southern Cone Parties filed in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County a motion to set supersedeas bond at zero dollars ($). The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provides a remedy for a party that appeals a judgment to stop the implementation of the judgment, e.g. surrendering possession of property, against them if they post a bond or provide other protection to the winning party. The Southern Cone Parties seek a direct appeal to the…
Litigation Heats Up in Several Courts
The litigation involving the Diocese, Corporation, Endowment Fund, and its parishes and missions against former leaders who left the Church is moving forward on several fronts in the past two weeks. On Wednesday, April 13, the Southern Cone parties filed their Notice of Direct Appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, seeking the Supreme Court’s review of Judge Chupp’s February 8, 2011 partial summary judgment in favor of the Episcopal Parties. A copy of the notice is here; a copy of the…
Ohio Court Rules for Episcopalians
On April 15, 2011, another court joined the long list of courts around the nation ruling that breakaway factions leaving The Episcopal Church cannot violate their oaths and seize Church property. The trial court in Cuyahoga County, Ohio issued an opinion and order granting a partial summary judgment in favor of The Episcopal Church and its Episcopal Diocese of Ohio against local leaders of five parishes who left The Episcopal Church in 2005 and 2006 and attempted to take church…
Court severs February 8, 2011 Order for Appeal
On February 8, 2011, the Honorable Judge John P. Chupp affirmed that the loyal Episcopal parties recognized by The Episcopal Church are the legally entitled representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and its historic churches. On April 5, 2011, the Court severed its February 8, 2011 Order, allowing the parties to appeal that part of the case, while staying (or postponing) the remaining issues. This ruling enables the Fort Worth Court of Appeals to review the trial court’s…
Local Episcopal Parties File New Pleadings and Supplemental Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
On March 31, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed amended pleadings in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The pleadings (1) add a new defendant, Jude Funding, Inc., and (2) seek supplemental declarations and injunctive relief consistent with the Court’s February 8, 2011 partial summary judgment. A more detailed list of the requested relief is in the “Relief Requested” sections of (1) Local Episcopal Plaintiffs’ Seventh Amended Original Petition and (2) the Fifth Amended Answers and Counterclaims to the…
Statement on 3/31/11 Hearing before Judge John P. Chupp
On March 31, 2011 Judge John P. Chupp heard arguments on the Southern Cone Parties’ Motion to Sever and Stay Proceedings. The judge declined to rule from the bench and announced that he wanted to review new filings before ruling. The Southern Cone Parties argued that the Judge should sever out the claims addressed in the partial summary judgment granted on February 8, 2011 for an immediate appeal and stop all further action in the case. In their Response to…
Bishop Wallis Ohl outlines plans for the continuing diocese
In an affidavit signed March 21, Bishop Ohl describes current planning to develop and continue the mission of The Episcopal Church in the 55 congregations of the diocese, stating that a “central element of this plan is for reconciliation with the many worshipers who will return to or remain in the pews.” Click here to read his affidavit.
Insurance Company Sues Iker-Led Diocese
On April 25, 2011 Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which has issued directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, sued the break-away faction led since November 15, 2008 by former Bishop Jack Leo Iker. A copy of the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas, is here. Among other things, the complaint seeks a declaration that, based on Judge Chupp’s amended summary judgment order signed February 8, 2011 and the…
Local Parties file motion to compel
On March 25, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed a motion to compel discovery from the Southern Cone parties. Click here to read a copy of the motion. A date for a hearing on the motion has not yet been set. In other legal news, the parties have filed an agreement to preserve documents relating to the diocesan case pending in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The written agreement, signed by counsel of record and filed with the clerk pursuant…