Ruling Expected Today in Case of Homeless Camp Preacher

A municipal court judge Monday postponed ruling on whether the Rev. Wiley S. Drake can argue that he allowed a makeshift camp on his church grounds because the homeless in Buena Park are caught in an emergency situation with no other place to go.

Judge Gregg L. Prickett, who had been expected to rule on the issue Monday, said he would give his decision this morning.

Should Prickett allow it, Drake’s attorney Jon Alexander said he would present a “necessity defense.” Outside the courtroom Monday, he compared the plight of the homeless in Buena Park to that of an ill motorist who breaks traffic laws to reach a hospital.

The Southern Baptist preacher’s trial on five criminal misdemeanor counts is now in its second week.

The prosecution argued last week, that Drake allowed the homeless to live at the First Southern Baptist Church in a covered patio that was unsafe, and that he repeatedly violated zoning laws, even after being warned by code enforcement officers.

The defense, lacking a decision on the necessity argument, forged ahead Monday to state that Drake is a victim of unequal enforcement of the laws and that he never encouraged the homeless to camp on his church grounds.

Six homeless and formerly homeless people who have lived at the church on Western Avenue testified that Drake never “invited” them onto the lot. They also stated that he worked to get them off the church grounds by helping them find work. Two supervisors at nearby temporary employment agencies supported their statements.

Thomas Harris Haughton, who described himself as an attorney, said Buena Park police told him he could not sleep in his car anywhere in the city but that “there was a church where people regularly slept in their cars.” The officer even drew him a little map to First Southern Baptist, Haughton said.

Cynthia Rae Lee, a pregnant woman who lives at the church now, testified that she “absolutely had nowhere else to go.”