Appellate Court Will Consider Procedural Dispute In Ft. Worth Episcopal Diocese Case

As previously reported, the dispute between two groups, both claiming to be the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, led to a lawsuit in the Texas courts. One of the groups is a break away group that affiliated with the more conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. The other, seeking an order that it still owns the Diocese property, represents members still loyal to the The Episcopal Church (TEC). The initial issue was framed as a challenge to the right of TEC lawyers to claim to represent the Diocese of Fort Worth. (See prior posting.) After the trial judge refused to grant a motion by the break away group to disqualify the TEC attorneys, the break away group filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the state Court of Appeals-- essentially an appeal of the trial judge's refusal to grant their motion (full text of petition and brief.) In In re Franklin Salazar, (TX Ct. App., Nov. 16, 2009), the Court of Appeals ordered trial court proceeding stayed while the appellate court considers the mandamus petition. A press release by the break away Fort Worth diocese discusses the court's latest move. [Thanks to Virtue Online for the lead.]