'Tarrant County' Tagged Posts

'Tarrant County' Tagged Posts

Texas Supreme Court agrees to hear Fort Worth Episcopal dispute

By Patrick M. Walker of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram The nearly 4-year-old property dispute between the two groups that claim to be the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is heading to the Texas Supreme Court. Justices agreed last week to hear oral arguments Oct. 16, the same day the state’s highest civil court was already set to hear a similar case involving an Episcopal church in San Angelo. A group headed by Bishop Jack Iker made a direct appeal to…

Change in Scope of April 28, 2011 Hearing

In a telephonic hearing on April 27, 2011, Judge John P. Chupp told the parties that, on April 28 at 2 p.m., he will hear the parties’ arguments about whether to allow the Episcopal Parties to conduct discovery on the factual issues raised in Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond and the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Continue Hearing on Supersedeas and for Additional Protection. He indicated that the parties should not bring witnesses to put on testimony about the…

Statement on October 20, 2011 Order on Supersedeas and Injunctions

Court Protects All Episcopal Property and Accounts During Appeal: Signs Episcopal Parties’ Requested Order, Sets Six-Figure Bond, and Orders Monthly Financial Reporting from All Southern Cone Defendants On October 20, 2011, the Hon. Judge John P. Chupp signed an order setting the terms of a $100,000.00 supersedeas bond and imposing injunctions designed to protect all of the historic Church property during the breakaway faction’s appeal. Order on Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond and the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion for…

Hearing Set on Supersedeas Bond and Injunction Pending Appeal

[Note: since hearing date was first announced, there has been a change. Due to a scheduling conflict of one of the breakaway Defendants’ attorneys, the hearing on the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Tender Orders has been reset for Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in the 141st District Court in Fort Worth.] Despite four months of negotiations, the parties have failed to reach an agreement on the conditions that the breakaway Defendants must meet in order to stop…

July 21 Hearing Rescheduled for July 28

The ten-minute hearing on the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Tender Orders has been rescheduled from July 21 to July 28, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in the Courtroom of the 141st District Court in Fort Worth.

Local Episcopal Parties Submit Proposed Orders to Judge Chupp

On June 24, 2011, the Local Episcopal Parties filed their Motion to Tender Orders with the 141st District Court of Tarrant County. The hearing on the motion is set for Thursday, July 21 at 10:30 a.m., for about ten minutes. On February 8, 2011, the Honorable Judge Chupp ruled – like courts across Texas and around the nation – that the breakaway defendants who left The Episcopal Church must cease holding themselves out as the Episcopal Diocese and must return historic Church…

Hearing on Supersedeas Recessed

At the hearing in May 19 on the supersedeas and injunction motions, Judge John P. Chupp heard testimony from witnesses for the Local Episcopal Parties, including experts on real property and forensic accounting; considered affidavits from the Defendants; and heard legal arguments from attorneys on both sides. Before announcing his ruling, Judge Chupp invited the parties to confer in the hope of reaching an agreement on these issues. The attorneys met in the jury room, with Bishop Ohl present, and…

Judge Chupp Resets Supersedeas Hearing for May 19, Orders Discovery

On April 28, Judge John P. Chupp granted in part the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion to Continue and for Additional Protection and reset the hearing on the Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas and the Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion for Additional Protection for May 19, 2011. Because the hearing has been continued for a date after May 5, he also, with agreement of the Episcopal parties, stayed (suspended) until further order the effective date of the permanent injunctions included in the…

Episcopalians Seek Additional Protection for Church Property While on Appeal

On April 25, 2011 the Southern Cone Parties filed in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County a motion to set supersedeas bond at zero dollars ($). The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provides a remedy for a party that appeals a judgment to stop the implementation of the judgment, e.g. surrendering possession of property, against them if they post a bond or provide other protection to the winning party. The Southern Cone Parties seek a direct appeal to the…

Court severs February 8, 2011 Order for Appeal

On February 8, 2011, the Honorable Judge John P. Chupp affirmed that the loyal Episcopal parties recognized by The Episcopal Church are the legally entitled representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and its historic churches. On April 5, 2011, the Court severed its February 8, 2011 Order, allowing the parties to appeal that part of the case, while staying (or postponing) the remaining issues. This ruling enables the Fort Worth Court of Appeals to review the trial court’s…

Local Episcopal Parties File New Pleadings and Supplemental Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

On March 31, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed amended pleadings in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The pleadings (1) add a new defendant, Jude Funding, Inc., and (2) seek supplemental declarations and injunctive relief consistent with the Court’s February 8, 2011 partial summary judgment. A more detailed list of the requested relief is in the “Relief Requested” sections of (1) Local Episcopal Plaintiffs’ Seventh Amended Original Petition and (2) the Fifth Amended Answers and Counterclaims to the…

Statement on 3/31/11 Hearing before Judge John P. Chupp

On March 31, 2011 Judge John P. Chupp heard arguments on the Southern Cone Parties’ Motion to Sever and Stay Proceedings. The judge declined to rule from the bench and announced that he wanted to review new filings before ruling. The Southern Cone Parties argued that the Judge should sever out the claims addressed in the partial summary judgment granted on February 8, 2011 for an immediate appeal and stop all further action in the case. In their Response to…

Local Parties file motion to compel

On March 25, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed a motion to compel discovery from the Southern Cone parties. Click here to read a copy of the motion. A date for a hearing on the motion has not yet been set. In other legal news, the parties have filed an agreement to preserve documents relating to the diocesan case pending in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The written agreement, signed by counsel of record and filed with the clerk pursuant…

Amended Order Entered on Motions for Summary Judgment

After a hearing on February 8, 2011, the Hon. John P. Chupp, judge of the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, entered an amended order affirming his rulings on January 21, 2011 in a form agreed to by all the parties. A copy of the order is below. Amended Order on Church and Local Episcopal Parties’ Motion for Summary Judgment 020811 The order reaffirms that the court grants the motions for summary judgment filed by the Episcopal Parties (Episcopal…

Judge Grants Episcopal Parties’ Motions for Summary Judgment, Orders Surrender of Diocesan Property

On Friday, January 21, 2011, the Hon. John P. Chupp of the 141st District Court, Tarrant County, Texas, granted the Local Episcopal Parties’ and The Episcopal Church’s Motions for Summary Judgments. He denied the Southern Cone parties Motion for a Partial Summary Judgment. The orders can be seen here. The Court orders provide in part that the defendants, including Bishop Jack L. Iker, “surrender all Diocesan property, as well as control of the Diocesan Corporation, to the Diocesan plaintiffs and to…

Summary Judgment hearings held

On Friday, January 14, 2011, the Hon. John P. Chupp of the 141st District Court of Tarrant County considered the motions for summary judgment in the dispute between the Episcopal parties and the Southern Cone parties, former members of the Episcopal Church. Competing motions for summary judgment are filed by the Episcopal Parties [The Episcopal Church, the Local Episcopal Parties (officials of the continuing diocese), and Episcopal Congregations (continuing parishes and missions and officials)] and the Southern Cone Parties (individuals…
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