After spending a day and a half in court with allegations brought up by members of Second Baptist Church against pastor Joseph Stone and deacon Terry Miller, Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens said the contempt hearing will be held in abeyance.
Kitchens’ actions means the accusations of contempt against the defense are suspended moving forward unless Stone and Miller commit any future actions that violate the judge's order.
The lawsuit of the Board of Trustees of Second Baptist Church of Starkville versus Terry Miller, Donald Crowther, TCM Companies and Joseph Stone, Jr. will continue in the form of a jury trial later this year.
During Tuesday's hearing, attorney Dorsey R. Carson, Jr. represented the plaintiffs consisting of members from Second Baptist Church and attorney William Starks represented defendants Stone and Miller.
Carson called church treasurer Jackie Lindsey to the stand and presented evidence, mostly consisting of check requests and checks that were not approved by the board of trustees, but signed by members of the church who were not authorized.
Lindsey said the finance committee had also not been receiving offerings to count and secure after they were taken up, and in January 2017 a special deacon meeting was called and trustee chairman Bennie Hairston and Lindsey's names were taken off of the bank account.
Hairston and Lindsey had their names reinstated onto the account, and the deacons opened a new banking account with Woodforest National Bank.
Kitchens then said the ruling he gave in November 2015 and the permanent injunction he set in September of 2016 was created so the church would maintain the way it was before the lawsuit began.
Kitchens ruled, based on the Second Baptist Church's constitution and operation manual, that the deacons were to put the money back into the original bank accounts that the finance committee and board of trustees had been given access to and let them do their assigned duties.
Kitchens said the hearing against Stone and Miller seemed counter-productive as far as regarding the overall lawsuit of building the sanctuary.
"I'm trying to cut this short so we can get on with the important things we need to get on with in this lawsuit," Kitchens said.
Kitchens hopes the issue can be resolved and that Second Baptist Church can continue functioning.
"We need to let the jury look at accusations of Mr. Crowther," Kitchens said.
Kitchens said there may be no evidence Stone and Miller were responsible, but said they should let the system work through it.
Starks declined to comment about the hearing or the ruling. "We're pleased with the judge's ruling that the monies have to be returned to the checking account where the treasurer has control," Carson said.
Second Baptist Church appointed Matt Baldridge from Baldridge Law Firm in Madison as the church attorney and requested to auction off two vehicles that were bought by Crowther, the contractor who is accused of defrauding the church, shortly after receiving a check from the church. Carson also said his team plans to include additional defendants related to Don Crowther, including his son Cameron Crowther.