A church schism leads to court
Martha <Leo Cox >
Philadelphia Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith.
Bishop Shelton was a bachelor who rode in a Rolls-Royce and lived in a
penthouse overlooking the Philadelphia Art Museum. He adopted several
young men from the congregation as his sons, and with the Bishop's death
in 1991, three of these young men began to fight with each other over
who should succeed as Bishop.
The church has 2500 members and is very wealthy.
One of the sons, Kenneth N. Shelton, eventually won control of the
church, declared himself "Bishop Omega" and ousted his competitors and
their supporters from the congregation. During 1992, Kenneth waged a
war from the pulpit, calling the dissenters "reprobates." Some
reprobates had to be thrown bodily from the church building. Police
were called to quell violent outbreaks.
Each of the other two sons, Anthonee Patterson and Roddy Nelson Jr., set
up his own splinter congregation, and each began a legal fight to unseat
Kenneth Shelton.
Patterson and Nelson contend that Shelton wrested control by force and
has used the tithes of his parishioners to enrich himself. Shelton
denies any impropriety. Legal documents show that Shelton receives an
annual salary of $250,000 and has spent millions traveling the world
with an entourage of aides. An accountant's report filed earlier shows
that $24.9 million had passed through 31 church bank accounts since the
first Bishop's death, and that Shelton and his aides had used the
church's American Express cards to charge $2.6 million in personal
expenses.
The first judge, Albert Sabo, refused to hear the case when it was
brought before him in 1995 (I mention this judge's name because I'm sure
he was associated with some other notorious Phila. law case which I
can't remember--I'll tell you if I remember it), but that decision was
overturned on appeal by Commonwealth Court. Common pleas judge John
Milton Younge said last week that he was eager to hear the case: "This
is a very important case. The court takes this matter very seriously.
All participants stand equally before this court. I'm going to have a
fair proceeding."
The trial began last week, with each of the three bishops permitted to
have 15 supporters in the courtroom. The rest of the church members
(all of whom, it seems, want to attend the trial and who are called
"saints") had to wait in the lobby. Each bishop had his own security
force with him; I do not know if that counted toward the 15.
Martha
Every9man
/The first judge, Albert Sabo, refused to hear the case when it was
/brought before him in 1995 (I mention this judge's name because I'm sure
/he was associated with some other notorious Phila. law case which I
/can't remember--I'll tell you if I remember it),
Judge Sabo presided over one of the most flagrantly unfair trials of the
century. Aside from whether or not Mumia Abu Jamal is guilty, this judge who I
believe was called "The hanging judge" never allowed much of possibly
exculpatory evidence to be heard by the jury, allowed in undocumented
inculpatory evidence, refused to let Jamal represent himself at trial, even
when it was obvious that the court appointed lawyer had not adequately prepared
the case for trial, didnt have sufficient funding to pay the investigator who
then quit,( or for a pathologist or ballistics expert); disallowed defense
attempts to put on evidence that the confession was a fabrication, and the very
worst of all, allowed Jamal's association with the Black Panthers to be aired
at the sentencing hearing ( clearly a violation of the First Amendment
according to a ruling by the Supreme Court).
You mean *that* Judge Sabo? The Judge Sabo who at that point in his life had
sentenced more defendants to death than any other judge in the nation.?
Yep. Must be the same Judge Sabo.
Barbara
Martha <Leo Cox >
Errrr.... yep.
Martha