Update in the Matthew Fenner Case:
The NC Court of Appeals granted the request for writ of certiorari submitted on September 15th by Josh Farmer on behalf of the three defendants, Brooke Covington, Justin Covington and Sarah Anderson. Rccatalyst.com reported this ruling on Monday. From the article which quotes the order:

“Defendants’ petition for writ of certiorari is allowed for the purpose of reviewing the order entered on 6 August 2015 by Judge Marvin Pope, Jr. granting the State’s motion to disqualify counsel and the order entered on 27 August 2015 by Judge Pope denying the Defendants’ motion for reconsideration. It appearing the defendants have retained appellate counsel and are not seeking court-appointed counsel, the appeal shall be deemed taken as of the date of this order. The record on appeal shall thereafter be settled as provided in Appellate Rule 11 and filed in the Court as provided by Appellate Rule 12.

Defendant’s petition for writ of supersedeas is also allowed… and all further trial court proceedings are hereby stayed pending the outcome of defendants’ appeal to this Court.”

Included in the quoted article is a copy of the docket sheet for the case showing 10/5/15 as the date of the ruling.

What does this mean? From a layman’s perspective, this means the trial could actually be delayed for several months at a minimum. It appears to me that the first step will be to acquire the transcripts from the Superior Court sessions on August 3rd and August 27th. Those could take up to 60 days from the date of the initial request for the transcripts. After those are submitted to the appropriate parties, there comes a set time frame for each party to the appeal to agree on the accuracy of the submitted materials.

Taken from NORTH CAROLINA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE –Rule 11, page 20:

“If any party to the appeal contends that materials proposed for inclusion in the record or for filing therewith pursuant to Rule 9(c) or 9(d) were not filed, served, submitted for consideration, admitted, or made the subject of an offer of proof, or that a statement or narration permitted by these rules is not factually accurate, then that party, within ten days after expiration of the time within which the appellee last served with the appellant’s proposed record on appeal might have served amendments, objections, or a proposed alternative record on appeal, may in writing request that the judge from whose judgment, order, or other determination appeal was taken settle the record on appeal. A copy of the request, endorsed with a certificate showing service on the judge, shall be filed forthwith in the office of the clerk of the superior court and served upon all other parties. Each party shall promptly provide to the judge a reference copy of the record items, amendments, or objections served by that party in the case.

The functions of the judge in the settlement of the record on appeal are to determine whether a statement permitted by these rules is not factually accurate, to settle narrations of proceedings under Rule 9(c)(1), and to determine whether the record accurately reflects material filed, served, submitted for consideration, admitted, or made the subject of an offer of proof, but not to decide whether material desired in the record by either party is relevant to the issues on appeal, non-duplicative, or otherwise suited for inclusion in the record on appeal.”

NC Rules of Appellate Procedure

After a brief review of these Rules, I find there are time frames for this action and time frames for a response and other procedures with yet different time deadlines. There is a detailed listing of how information is to be presented and what to do if any party disagrees with this or that. Yes, this could mean a long time until the pending motions before the Superior Court in this case are heard.

However, we must remember this is a review of Judge Pope’s Orders- a review of his judiciary discretion. Did he overstep in his Order to Disqualify -Tomblin, Farmer and Morris (TFM) and their associates? It is better to know the answer to this question now rather than near the end of the trial(s) upon which a successful appeal of a conviction requires a retrial of the defendants. This should be taken in context. This acceptance of the writ is not a statement of guilt or innocence for any of the defendants. This acceptance of the appeal does not automatically grant the appeal. It only guarantees that attorneys for each side will be allowed to present written evidence for their respective sides. It is unclear to me since this is not an appeal of a final conviction, whether there will be any oral arguments allowed. From what I have learned so far, I don’t believe oral arguments are initially allowed.

Regardless of what happens in this case up, we can expect certain things to remain. We can expect more Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) members to leave. We can expect more stories of abuse coming from the survivors. Why? WOFF is UNSAFE. A few years ago, I carried a sign down Oakland Rd. which contained those words. (Spring Missions Project May 2011) My opinion has NOT changed in the least. I am more convinced today than when I carried the sign. Do any others agree?

Season of Changes is upon us.

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Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 542.