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Judge Declares Mistrial in Case of Nc Minister Accused of Beating Gay Church Member

WYFF
June 7, 2017

http://www.wyff4.com/article/judge-declares-mistrial-in-case-of-nc-minister-accused-of-beating-gay-church-member/9984719

A North Carolina superior court judge on Tuesday declared mistrial in case of North Carolina minister charged in beating of gay church member.

Citing misbehavior by a juror, an angry Gary Gavenus ordered juror Perry Shade be arrested in the courtroom.

The judge said Shade conducted his own independent research on the case, then handed it out to other jurors.

Gavenus then ordered Shade to 30 days in jail and pay a $500 fine.

Gavenus also issued a gag order in the case, which extends to jurors, law enforcement and witnesses.

Brooke Covington, a longtime minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, had faced up to two years in prison if convicted on charges of kidnapping and assaulting former member Matthew Fenner in January 2013.

The 58-year-old Covington was the first of five church members to face trial in the case. Each defendant will be tried separately.

Fenner, who is now 23, says he was slapped, punched, choked and screamed at for two hours as they tried to expel his "homosexual demons."

 

 

 

 

 




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