NORTH CAROLINA
WYFF
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (WYFF and AP) —
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.
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