RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — A mistral has been declared in the case of a minister who was accused of leading the beating of a gay church member in North Carolina after a juror was arrested.
It was announced in the courtroom During jury deliberations that a juror had given documents pertaining to the case to fellow jurors in the case. It's not clear how the juror obtained the documents.
According to the judge, the jury foreman distributed copies of a law that he researched to jurors. Jurors are not supposed to research facts on their own and must rely on testimony.
Brooke Covington, a longtime minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, is accused of leading the 2013 beating to expel Matthew Fenner's "homosexual demons."
[AP Exclusive: Ex-congregants reveal years of ungodly abuse at NC church[
Fenner said he was punched, choked and screamed at for two hours in the sanctuary in January 2013.
Prosecutor Garland Byers said Fenner was held against his will and attacked. Defense lawyer David Teddy said Fenner requested the treatment, which he called a form of prayer.
Those who joined Fenner said the court case was about more than assault and that it was a fight against a church that goes too far in the name of God.
Covington left court surrounded by supporters and men in dark suits, quickly got into an SUV with tinted windows and left court, still under a judge's gag order.
Linda Reider, Fenner’s aunt, said the case was a fight against a church with a cultlike influence.
Fenner left court alone and visibly upset.
"He will bounce back, but he is upset, and I don't blame him,” Reider said.
Fenner said members of the Spindle Church, which he attended, discovered four years ago that he had "a gay dream."
"These young people and adults are brainwashed,” Reider said. “They are mind controlled. And should I be giving an interview? Probably not. I'm too angry right now."
Covington was accused of making Fenner the subject of “blasting,” where church members surround a person shouting, praying and some say, hitting the victim to expel a demon spirit.
Christina Bryant of Huntersville, a former church member, said she was a victim of blasting without the punching.
"It's real,” Bryant said. "An ea- piercing screaming that makes your ears ring for hours afterwards."
Bryant showed support for Fenner.
She said the church has to be stopped and Covington has to be retried.
"It's not just Matthew. Matthew is just one of hundreds of people who have been abused inside of the Word of Faith Fellowship,” Bryant said.
There is no word whether the case will be retried.
Four more people facing are charges in the “blasting” incident involving Matthew Fenner. One of them testified against Covington.
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