Jury Seated in Trial of Word of Faith Church Member Accused of Abuse

By Jennifer Emert
WLOS
June 1, 2017

http://wlos.com/news/local/jury-seated-in-word-of-faith-church-member-abuse-trial

A jury of eight men and four women has been seated to hear the case against a Spindale minister on trial for abusing one of the church's members in 2013.

The 12-member jury was seated about 3:25 p.m. Wednesday to hear the case against Brooke Covington. Late Wednesday afternoon, one of two alternate jurors was selected to hear the case. Selection for the last alternate juror will begin at 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Among the jurors is a former law enforcement officer.

Covington, who is one of four Word of Faith Fellowship church members charged with assaulting and kidnapping Matthew Fenner in January 2013, walked out of the Rutherford County Courthouse surrounded by church members just after 5 p.m. Wednesday. Other members from Word of Faith Fellowship were in the courtroom Wednesday, listening to the jury selection process.

The line of questioning was similar to Tuesday's, although defense attorney David Teddy asked jurors more about whether they could hold the state responsible for meeting its burden of proof in the case and asked jurors questions concerning the kidnapping charge.

Matthew Fenner said he was leaving a prayer service in January 2013 when nearly two dozen people surrounded him. He claimed they slapped, choked, punched and screamed at him for hours, a process called "blasting" to drive out "homosexual demons."

Jury selection in the case has taken two full days. Still at issue is whether jurors will be taken onto church property to see where the incident in 2013 occurred.

It's possible Jane Whaley, who is the head of the Word of Faith Fellowship church, could be called to testify in the trial. It was revealed in court Wednesday she and Joshua Farmer are on the witness list.