Update on Hood County Case
On Wednesday July 14 the Hon. Ralph Walton in the 355th District Court of Hood County heard several procedural motions in the Hood County case involving St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church of Fort Worth as a beneficiary of a trust created in 2002 by famed artist Cynthia Brants, now deceased.
The judge ruled against us on a motion regarding the form of two orders, struck Bishop Wallis Ohl’s plea in intervention, and denied the Trustees’ and our motion for continuance on the summary judgment motions.
The court heard competing motions for summary judgment, one filed by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and the other by a group that has left The Episcopal Church. After hearing the arguments by the attorneys the judge announced that he would take the motions under advisement and announce his ruling by letter to the attorneys.
Tom Leatherbury, the appellate attorney for the diocese, was in the courtroom with attorneys Jon Nelson and Kathleen Wells. Assistant chancellor Richard Henderson also was present as was Bishop Ohl.
“We have experienced some procedural setbacks in our litigation both in Tarrant and Hood counties but we remain firmly optimistic about the eventual outcome. Remember that more than a third of many cases The Episcopal Church has won across the nation have been won on appeal. We have always assumed these cases would be appealed no matter which side prevailed at the trial level,” Bishop Ohl said.
“In the meantime I urge all Episcopalians to remain of good heart as we continue the work that is our highest priority—sharing the Gospel, loving God, and loving our neighbors.”
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Link to this release.