Superior Court Day 3, September 25, 2015

Friday's court case was to begin with finishing my testimony begun the day before. Thursday's testimony, under the questioning of Anastasia, had been unnerving. Several times I answered before he was finished with his question. He would pause, I would answer and then he would tell me to please let him finish the question. It was very much like being scolded by a teacher. Sometimes his question was so grammatically complex I got lost and would have to ask for him to repeat or rephrase the question. After court on Thursday Allegra and Kathryn sat on either side of me on a bench in the hallway and tried to calm me down and reassure me that I had done OK. Allegra pointed out that if I paused long enough after a question she would have time to object if necessary. Their counsel and reassurance was quite helpful.
Friday's questioning began, but this time my sister Donna and brother-in-law, Danny were a reassuring presence in the audience. Danny is a fan of all things legal. Donna was taking notes and Danny was listening intently. I was also wearing my grandmother's locket and the long chain allowed me to hold on to it for comfort. Anastasia's questions seemed somewhat combative. Several of his questions were quite memorable.
"Who is your priest?" My answer was, "Fr. Christopher Kelley". "Have you received communion from him?" My answer? "Yes."
"Haven't you been holding mass in your home for the last three years?" This was easy to answer, "Yes."
During Friday's questions I managed to pause and breathe more. Some of Allegra's questions helped to clarify previous answers.
It is a curious business to be sworn to tell the truth, try to do the same and still feel that you have been found wanting. It was such a relief to step down from that witness stand. We broke for lunch a little before 11:00 and were not due back until 2:00 pm. Closing arguments would complete the trial.
Allegra began her closing argument with again restating the narrow focus the trial was to concern itself with by direction of the Appellate Court. Was the August 6, 2012 vote, initiated by the legally elected Vestry to ammend the By-laws and Articles of Incorporation, valid? She stated the following election statistics:
59 ballots
40 returned on time
31 in favor
9 against
6 returned after the deadline
Testimony during the trial addressed the eight names from the January 2012 Qualified Voters List, that had not been given ballots. By direct testimony four had entered the Catholic Church, two had not attended for over a year, one had moved out of the country and one was deceased.
Lancaster, arguing for the defendants, did not address the issues requested by the Appellate Court. Instead, he was all over the place and quite difficult to follow.
Allegra's rebuttal brought things back home. One argument that Lancaster trotted out referred to a church case that Allegra pointed out proved the exact opposite.
I can't remember when the court was dismissed, but it was usually by 4:30 and probably before on Friday. The week had been exhausting, full of complex emotions and the culmination of three and one half years of justice delayed. Judge Strobel's decision will be issued, in all likihood, sometime before the end of this coming week. The prayers I have been saying for justice and a return to our beloved little church are ongoing. May God be glorified in true justice.