Local News in Brief : Judge Rejects Delay in Ecclesia Trial
An Oregon judge has rejected a petition filed by four Ecclesia Athletic Assn. members to halt their trial for the beating death of the group founder’s daughter.
Clackamas County Circuit Judge John Lowe ruled that the defendants have no legal standing to have the trial transferred to federal court after they claimed the state of Oregon prohibited them from free exercise of their religion.
The defendants also asked that the trial be halted so their organization could hear the case against them. In addition, they sought a forum including Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart and other television evangelists.
Defendants Willie Chambers, 35; Brian Brinson, 30; Frederick Doolittle, 28, and Constance Jackson, 37, are charged with manslaughter in the October beating death of Dayna Broussard, 8, the daughter of Ecclesia founder Eldridge Broussard Jr.
Broussard founded the group in Watts, saying it would provide athletic training and discipline for inner-city children.
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