Court Rejects Minister’s Plea on Contempt Counts in ’84 Case

The 4th District Court of Appeal on Thursday denied the Rev. Kenneth Lowe’s petition to avoid going to jail on 46 contempt counts because his written request was “unintelligible.”

Lowe, who faced several months in jail, was to be sentenced Tuesday for his conviction of violating a 1984 Superior Court order that he stop operating four unlicensed board-and-care homes. However, Lowe, an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church, did not appear in court, and the sentencing judge held him in contempt again. She ordered a warrant for his arrest.

The same day, Lowe filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus --a writ aimed at securing the prompt release of someone in custody--with the appellate court. By late Thursday, the bench warrant still had not been issued for Lowe’s arrest.

Appellate justices who reviewed Lowe’s petition ruled that he failed “to state sufficient facts to warrant relief” and had not submitted all the necessary court documents.

Lowe can file another request with the appellate court with the missing paper work, Judge Edward J. Wallin said, but the fact that he is seeking to stay out of jail by means of a legal maneuver used by people already in custody “could be a problem.”