Updated: December 9, 2016 10:31 AM
The Hearing held December 8th in the Fenner case answered some questions and left many still unanswered. By the time I entered Courtroom #2, the discussions of the State’s request for the Honorable Judge Marvin Pope to hear all cases related to the indictments were well under way. The Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) crowd was seated in the back right of the room close to the main entry door. This was not the normal front left position as in previous sessions. The media and others not affiliated with WOFF were sitting on the left side. Of course, I found a seat up about middle left.

Today was yet another small chapter in the ongoing saga of the Matthew Fenner case. Events from January 27, 2013 are in question. Five present and former WOFF members were formally indicted in January 2015. The indictments against Brooke Covington, Justin Covington and Robert Lewis Walker, Jr. who are still members and Adam Bartley and Sarah Anderson, former members; include second degree kidnapping, first degree assault and one count of inflicting injury by attempted strangulation. After initially attempting to represent all five defendants, WOFF attorneys Joshua Farmer, Mark Morris and all their associates were disqualified by Judge Pope in August 2015.

As a result, all five defendants have separate counsel. Brooke Covington is represented by David Teddy. Justin Covington is represented by Krinn Evans. Robert Lewis Walker, Jr. is represented by Matthew Cabe. Sarah Covington is represented by the Cooper Firm. Adam Bartley is represented by Robert Denton who also represents Nicholas Anderson in his civil case for divorce and custody against Sarah. All five defendants and their counsel were present today.

Now, back to the hearing….

Assistant District Attorney Garland Byers was addressing the issue at hand. Brooke Covington was seated at the defendants table as her attorney, David Teddy, stood to participate in the discussion. Her demeanor was pensive from my view.

Unlike previous meetings, this hearing had a faster pace in part because there was potentially so much on the table. The back and forth questions, answers and reasoning was very lively. I will present a recap of the main points and more than likely will not get them in exact order.

As Byers pleaded his stance that the Judge remain for the duration, Judge Pope commented he had not found any legal precedence for requiring such an arrangement. However, he did offer a solution. He drew upon a previous situation in which multiple defendants had requested he hear all their cases. At that time, he required the each defendant under their own counsel sign a statement agreeing to such. He required this written agreement in hopes of not allowing the arrangement to be grounds for an appeal if a defendant felt they were unfairly tried. His caution was on behalf of each defendant and the State.

The outcome today was similar. Judge Pope gave the defendants and their attorneys ten days to decide if they all agree he could/should hear each case. This agreement is important as it also came out in court the State intends to try each defendant separately with Brooke Covington’s trial first up. During the hearing, Byers revealed that his calendar was full until April of 2017.

Judge Pope lamented his thoughts that this will be a contentious case especially with each trial being a jury trial. He did also express his pleasure that each defendant will be tried separately. He estimated a five day period for each defendant’s trial. As a disclaimer, he said he had not viewed the 2017 judicial calendar and did not know where he would be assigned yet.

Is it likely all five attorneys will agree enough to put it in writing? Who knows at this point? It is also not clear if they don’t agree how that will affect the timetable for the prosecution of the case. Will each defendant be in front of whom ever the judge is for that session?

Somewhere during the hearing, Judge Pope held up an envelope which contained the “evidence” requested from WOFF so many months ago. Each attorney would have access in due time. I have it on very good sources that the evidence is a sanitized version of a memorial service and maybe a wedding or baby dedication. No surprise that WOFF did not feel compelled to give over video of a hot and heavy raucous deliverance session.

Next, the Change of Venue was discussed. Each attorney in turn with the defendant was called to state their preference on the motion filed by the Disqualified Josh Farmer and Mark Morris. Generally, four of the five attorneys said they reserve the right to amend the motion with one possibly replacing it with another original motion. Micah Cooper, representing Sarah Anderson basically said she was not concerned with the Motion or pushing the trial out of Rutherford County. With five trials before us, could there be five separate locations or would they all have to agree on the venue? Not sure.

One point to note, the attorney representing Justin Covington, Krinn Evans, did elaborate and list the RcCatalyst and other social media sources as a reason to move away from Rutherford County. He wanted a right to amend the Motion if needed. Looking over the original Motion, I did not readily find the RcCatalyst in the sources quoted by Farmer. The original motion listed major television and newspaper coverage. Does this tell us who has carried the banner of alarm concerning this case in recent months? Thank you, Mr. Evans for making the point!

I don’t recall the Change of Venire being addressed as that Motion was originally put forth by the State as a solution to the venue question. We shall see if it needs further discussion as the weeks and month roll on.

Bantered about during the discussion was mention of a “Bill of Particulars.” I am working on finding out more about that document and it purpose.

And what would a day in court be without some underlying fireworks between WOFF leadership and former members? Somewhere during the session, Sarah tried to pass her brother, Justin, a note. (He has been in timeout with no cell phone or car privileges.) I was told he dropped the note. The exact contents of the note I don’t know, but feel sure it was loving affirmation from his sister. I don’t believe she would waste her time giving him stock picks or asking about his favorite NFL team, right?

Apparently, some WOFF member picked up the note and must have showed it to the Queen(s) for the Day, Jayne Caudler and Karel Reynolds. As I was standing with Micah and Sarah outside in the top steps of the courthouse, DeWitt Prince opened the door in royal fashion to allow the Queens and their entourage to pass. Sarah shouted, Love you, Justin! To which Queen Caulder snarled something like we left your trash its back inside! (referring to her note)

Honestly, it sounded so petty and snarky. I did not hear any love of God from the group that teaches against bullying! Oh, my!

[Originally, I wrongly identified Karel as the commenting Queen. My apologies to Jayne Caulder for not recognizing position and her unique gift of kindness and compassion. She does set a good example reflecting the one from whom she learned her relationship skills. Yes, there were two Queens on Thursday.)

And to round out the show of love and good manners, as I left I chose to pass by Queen Karel, Justin and the young lady who I don’t know her name. Once they saw me approaching on the sidewalk, they immediately turned their back to me as if on command. I chuckled. I felt this along with Krinn’s comments must have meant I was doing something right. Thank you, Karel. You reminded me why I left WOFF over eight years ago. Honestly, I don’t bite.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that I witnessed a Josh Farmer sighting. He was in the foyer after the hearing on the other side of the Christmas tree talking with Matthew Cabe and Robert Denton. No, I could not hear what they were saying, but I feel certain it was not about their personal Christmas wish list. If this does not violate the letter of the ORDER of Disqualification, could it violate the spirit of the ORDER?

Well, we shall see.

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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 582.