2 Who Were Homeless Tell Jury of Church Aid

Two homeless women told jurors Thursday that they went to the Rev. Wiley Drake’s church to seek refuge at the suggestion of Buena Park police officers, whose city is now accusing the pastor of improperly housing men and women with no place else to go.

Drake, who faces five misdemeanor city code violations, had allowed the two women to park their cars on church grounds, fed them and helped them get jobs, they said. One witness said she was referred to Drake’s church in the summer of 1995, about the same time that other city employees were citing the church.

Outside the court in Fullerton, attorney Jon Alexander, who represents Drake and the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, said the testimony illustrates that his client’s services were needed.

The officers “care about these people,” Alexander said. “What they did underscores the correctness and necessity of what Wiley Drake is doing for people who are not looking for a handout, but a hand in getting back on their feet.”

One of the two witnesses, Lorraine Turner, told jurors that the church helped her become a medical technician. She said she is now working full time at St. Jude Medical Center.

The police officer who initially told her to go to the church recently came by for a visit, Turner said.

“He said he was proud of me and gave me a hug,” she said.

Prosecutors insist that the case is not about helping the homeless but the church’s glaring breach of the law.

The trial will continue Monday, when Municipal Judge Gregg L. Prickett is expected to rule on whether the defense can argue that Drake had no choice but to care for a flock of homeless men and women because they would otherwise face an uncertain future, possibly including death.