The arraignment hearing for Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) member, Diane M. McKinny, was held this morning in US District Court in Asheville, NC. She was accompanied by WOFF member, Ramona Hall and her attorney, Amos Tyndall. Assistant US Attorney David Bradley represented the Government.
Due to ongoing construction in the courthouse, the hearing was moved from Courtroom 2 to a much larger courtroom. This room had gallery seating for about 100 folks. Around the interior walls were portraits of previous judges. The area for attorneys and court personnel was much larger than the previous courtroom and the bench for the judge was higher. The court seal hung on the wall behind the judge’s bench. Opposite from the entrance were four large windows with plantation blinds. The room lighting was more than adequate as was the sound system.
The hearing started early and lasted less than fifteen minutes. Judge W. Carleton Metcalf summarized the needed reading of the vital points of the procedural questions along with the first indictment of conspiracy to commit wire fraud which affected a Federal financial institution. This indictment carries a maximum fine of 30 years and one million dollars.
The second indictment was based on making false statements to Federal investigators in April 2018. The maximum penalty for this charge is five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine with up to five years supervised release.
Under counsel, Diane McKinny pleaded not guilty to the second indictment and asked for a jury trial. All parties confirmed the McKinny trial remains set for the May session.
Attorney Bradley mentioned that all the previous restrictions on McKinny under the first indictment continued with the second indictment.
In closing, the Magistrate Judge Metcalf acknowledged there were additional issues to be addressed in the afternoon. This next hearing promised to be much longer and full of oral arguments in reference to subpoenas issued several ex-members.
Hearing on the Motion to Quash subpoenas
The afternoon session started on time. Attorneys for Jones Road, LLC were in attendance. Leita Walker from the Ballard Spahr LLP firm presented arguments before the Judge with two other gentlemen in support. Attorney Amos Tyndall represented Diane McKinny. US Attorney Daniel Bradley represented he Government.
In short, the issue at hand revolved around subpoenas issued to six individuals, all ex-members of WOFF who may have participated in the filming of an A&E series, “The Devil Next Door.” This unaired series is reported to portray the stories of ex-members and their reflections about the time spent inside WOFF and the struggles after leaving. Tyndall issued the subpoenas for information on the communication between these six folks and the production company for the series. He also wanted information on the contracts between these parties along with any payments given to the participants.
Jones Road’s attorneys filed a Motion to Quash and after some litigation, this hearing was for oral arguments before the Judge. Recently, Kent Covington’s attorney Stephan Cash, filed a Motion to Join with McKinny. This was a separate matter heard afterwards.
The Judge allowed for introductions and initiated with some opening remarks. I stop here to admit I sat through this hearing and, at times, did not understand the terms used by the speakers. This post is to present some of the more obvious nuggets I understood and give you my thoughts on what may happen in the future. I admit my recollection may not retell the events in time order.
Judge Metcalf set some parameters to follow. This hearing was not to determine what evidence was admissible at trial. He wanted discussion around Rule 17c and would address other issues in due time.
Attorney Walker was first to speak. She gave the main points from their filed brief. The information Tyndall sought was not relevant to the charges in the McKinny indictment. The evidence was not admissible. There was no proof the series included information about McKinny and the fraud she is accused of. Also, by granting the Motion, McKinny and her attorney would not be stopped in cross-examining any of the witnesses to point out any perceived bias towards McKinny.
Walker stated that witnesses had been speaking negatively about the church for years to several other sources and payment for these statements never was an issue or mentioned. She pointed out there was no doubt the information obtained through any subpoena would end up with the church giving them more opportunity to smear and degrade ex-members after already successfully delaying the series.
At one point, the Judge asked what is the volume of material being requested? Walker answered that it was hard to say exactly, but she figured around 100 pages. At this, there was verbal consent that this amount of material could be secured during trial, if it was ruled admissible by Judge Reidinger.
Tyndall continued during his turn making it clear he has never attended WOFF. I found that weird and not a positive reflection. He said having “actors” called as witnesses posed a large problem when their own biases will be obvious.
In reply to a direct question from the Judge, he admitted there was no proof or any material in the records saying these folks in question were actually bias toward McKinny.
Again, the Judge reminded all parties, it was not his aim to determine what evidence was admissible.
In the Motion filed by the Jones Road attorneys, they offered an alternative that if the subpoenas were allowed, to only permit the content to be viewed by limited folks and not admit it into court evidence. The Judge asked Tyndall if that was an acceptable solution, he answered that he had no problem with it. He then listed what he wanted; copies of the contracts, date they were entered and the amounts of any payments. By this info, he could determine if witnesses were bias.
Bradley summarized his position by saying the point goes to admissibility. He explained why the superseding indictment narrowed the focus. I will rephrase but, give the main points.
Bradley said the latest indictment narrowed the focus of the charges away from trying to include “the church” as a part of the conspiracy or vehicle driving the scheme. Indeed, the language of the latest indictment does not include language which would require the Government to prove “church leadership” promoted the scheme.
If you think about it, that insinuation or knowledge on the one hand has already been proven- by the guilty pleas of Jerry Gross, Jason Gross and Kent Covington. Those familiar with the dynamics of WOFF know which direction approvals for new ventures flows.
As my dad told me years ago when he was teaching me to wash a car- “Remember son, water flows downhill.”
Within WOFF- there is so much more than “water (that) flows downhill.”
There was also mention that maybe two of the six would not be called. I did not catch the names.
In Walker’s summary, she again said there was no evidence that suggested the series was about McKinny. The information sought could be mined at trial when McKinny’s attorney could cross-examine anyone who might be called. She labeled the subpoenas as a fishing expedition.
Once the Judge was satisfied that all the attorneys had said all they wanted to say, he ended with the expected, “I will take all of this under advisement. I know the trial is coming soon.” There is no absolute date, but, I don’t see it taking several weeks to render a decision. May 6th is the trial.
This hearing closed and a shorter one ensued. This was to resolve that conflict between Attorney Stephen Cash who represents Kent Covington and the US Attorney Bradley. Recently, Cash filed a motion to join McKinny in the subpoenas. Bradley vehemently opposed the motion after Cash hurled some lawyer-like adjectives towards Bradley which elicited a lengthy and just as full-forced reply. The meeting was short and as close to a “kiss and hug” make up session as you will see in open court.
Cash provided much more case law to support his position while simultaneously backstroking from his position against Bradley. The Judge ended by saying his opinion on this matter would coincide with his other ruling on the previous Motion to Quash. It was clear, by stopping the subpoenas, nobody in the case would lose their rights to cross-examine or seek similar information during trial.
This was a full day. I know this post does not cover the complete volume of all that was said, and other news sources may include more. For certain, the outcome of the pending trial is not predictable.
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(Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 654.