NEWS HERALD MORGANTON, N. C.

~~

NOV20·88 l i/ Hearing for Catawba County minister delay d

CLIPPll~G SERVICE 1115 HlllSBORO

RALEIGH, NC 27603 TEL. (919) 833·2079

By DEBRA CRISP News Herald Staff Writer

The hearing of the Catawba County minister who has filed a lawsuit against nine Burke County residents, and now faces charges of assault has been postponed for a second time because of lengthy dis­ cussion between attorneys involved in the case. In addition, a district court judge

ordered a minister involved in the lawsuit to relinquish control of re­ cordings that were made of alleg-

edly slanderous comments by two males, Norman Powell and a minor, who have accused the minister of making homosexual advances to­ ward them. The assault case will now be heard

on Dec. 2. The Rev. Carrell Pruette ap­

peared in district court on Friday with about 14 people that his attor­ ney Steven Brackett of Hickory termed as witnesses in the case which accuses him of assaulting a minor boy by making sexual ges­ tures and making suggestive com-

men ts. A criminal summons was issued

by the Burke County Sheriff's De­ partment on Oct. 13. The minister made his first appearance in court on Oct. 25. However, he was granted a continuance or postponement until Friday by Judge Nancy Einstein. The case was not heard this time

because of discussion with other attorneys, Brackett said. "I called this morning and found

out the case should be heard at 2 (p.rn.)," he told District Judge Jona­ than Jones. "But when I got here the

other attorneys wanted to talk about settling the (separate) civil suit." In addition, Daniel Kuehnert, at­

torney for the minor and the lawyer who prosecute the assault case, said that he had at least three witnesses to be heard in the case and possibly seven. Pruette filed a lawsuit against

seven Burke County residents and two area ministers, the Revs. Rob­ ert Tenery of Burkemont Baptist Church in Morganton and Dennis Patton of Mt. Hebron Baptist Church on Aug. 19 alleging that they had

slandered him. The lawsuit alleges that the min­

isters and the residents slandered the former missions director of the South Mountain Baptist Association by publishing statements and talk­ ing about him in such a manner that left him open to "public hatred, prejudice, contempt and disgrace." The complaint also contends the

comments would tend to impeach Pruette in his profession. The other Burke County residents

* Please turn to page 9A

turn over the tapes. Pruette is seeking a jury trial, no

less than $10,000 and to recover reasonable attorneys fees in the lawsuit. The residents recently filed an­

swers and counterclaims to the law­ suit. Both the minor and Norman Powell are seeking to recover more than $10,000 each from Pruette.

Hearing for Cat~wha minister delayed * From page one named in the lawsuit are: Tenery's wife, Willo'deane Tenery; Carl and Sadie Powell; Norman Powell; De­ bra and James Lee; and a minor male, whose age has not been dis­ closed. Brackett also issued a subpoena

against Patton Thursday to obtain copies of tapes that were allegedly

made at a April 21 meeting at Burke­ mont Baptist Church and a July 11 meeting at Beulah Baptist Church in Vale where Norman Powell and the minor allegedly slandered Pruette, according to his attorney. John Willardson o1 Wilkesboro

asked the judge to quash or throw out the subpoena because he claimed it was a harrassment of

Patton. "This is being used as a discovery

tool for the lawsuit in the criminal part of the case," he said. However, Brackett argued that

the tapes were crucial because they would uncover incosistencies in the statements made by Powell and the minor. The judge did not agree with Wil­

lardson and ordered the minister to

oritlk - rr-~"-:,1.....::··i·.·~.-,.ions dire~to~:fr cleared of assault charges }

By DEBRA CRISP News Herald Staff Writer

The former director of missions for the South Mountain Baptist Associa­ tion was found not guilty of assault charges against a minor Friday afternoon in Burke County District Court. The not guilty verdict leaves the Rev. Carrell Pruette free to pursue his

slander lawsuit against nine Burke County residents, including two ministers, for comments they allegedly made concerning homosexual advances on his part. The not guilty verdict, rendered by Judge Nancy Einstein, came after

three hours of often conflicting testimony by two of the key prosecution witnesses. Pruette had been charged with assault against a 17-year-old minor. The

criminal summons, issued Oct. 12, alleged that Pruette made sexual advances toward the boy by touching him and making suggestive com­ ments to him on Oct. 17, 1987. Following the verdict by the judge, Pruette's attorney, Steven Brackett

of Hickory, said he was pleased with the verdict but additional defendants may be added in the slander suit, which has been filed in Catawba County Superior Court. "First the verdict shows that an impartial jurist did not believe the

testimony of the prosecuting witnesses," Brackett said. "Secondly, the verdict suggests that the motivation for the criminal charges was to harrass and embarass Carrell Pruette because he had the courage to sue these families and other ministers in the county. "We're going to evaluate the situation and consider amending the claims

to sue the defendants for abuse of the criminal process. We're also going to investigate to determine if any other person wrongfully sought the

*PI ea se turn ··B

~

Minister1oleared of charges 1 * From page one warrant," Brackett said. Brackett would not conunent about who he believes might have caused

undue influence to have the warrant issued. Attorney Daniel Kuehnert of Morganton, who represented the minor and

was the prosecuting attorney, said he was disappointed in the verdict but is convinced his clients will win the·civil lawsuit. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not really surprised," Kuehnert said. "It is

-harder to·prove-acrimina:l case-than a civil one; But I am more eonvineed - . than ever of the-successful outcome in the civil case."

- --·Pruette- filed a lawsuit against seven Burke County residents and two ministers, the Revs. Robert Tenery of Burkemont Baptist Church in Morganton and Dennis T. Patton of Mt. Hebron Baptist Church in Connelly Springs on Aug. 19. Other residents named in the lawsuit are: James and Debra Lee; Sadie

and Carl Powell; Norman Powell; Willo'deane Tenery, the wife of the Rev. Tenery; and the minor child. After the lawsuit was filed the minor and his parents met with Burke

County Sheriff's Department juvenile detective Pete Ross to discuss the issuance of a criminal summons against Pruette. Ross testified that he only spoke with the minor once and there was not

any physical evidence that an assault had occured. In addition, the detective testified that the chief witness, Norman Powell, who corrobo­ rated the minor's story, ·did not attend the meeting at the sheriff's department on Aug. 29. Both Norman Powell and the minor have contended that Pruette made

sexual advances toward them on Oct. 17, 1987 . • , The 17-year-old told the court that he had met Pruette two years 'ago ~~when he was interim pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. · :·• The teenager also testified that on Oct. 17, 1987 Pruette brought his car to ;.be repaired by Powell's uncle, Garland Butler, who works at a garage · 'along Old Highway 18.

,1 "He needed a water pump for his car so he asked me and Norman to take .,him to town to get one for his car," said the minor. "We were going up :Enola Road and he turned around and asked me if I had ever masturbated. ; And I told him no."

·~·· The minor said that as the car drove along toward Morganton that ~Pruette had t~ed around in his seat and r~peatedly ran ~s hand up his leg near the gerutal area. The 17-year-old said that he contmually told the minister to stop touching him and he had to remove the minister's hand from his leg several times. "He made meJeel uncomfortable and I tried to get away from him," he --said.---.··---·--·-- ... - -

. The teenager estimated that Pruette tried to touch him more than 20 times during the trip to Morganton. The minor also claimed that the trio went to Roses in Morganton where

Pruette purchased some parts to fix a door at his home in Catawba County. The three then went to the minister's house where the minister allegedly made additional sexual advances toward the minor. "He wanted us to go into the woods with him because he said he wanted

to show us where his father used to live," he said. "While we were in the woods I had to use the bathroom so I left him and Norman. When I was almost finished he.came and tried to look over my shoulder." However, when Powell, 20, took the stand he testified that Pruette did not

make sexual advances toward the minor during the trip to Morganton, rather that the advances were while the three were sitting in the Roses parking lot eating hot dogs. In addition, Powell testified that the three did not go to Pruette's home to repair a door on that date. The minor testified that Pruette made sexual advances to Po.well by

sticking his tongue in his ear. However, Powell denied that such an incident occured. During cross examination by Brackett the minor said that Powell had

tried to Commit suicide. However, Powell denied that he had tried to commit suicide, that he had emotional problems and that he had had to seek psychiatric help. However, in a counter lawsuit filed by Powell, he claims that he has had

to seek such treatment due to alleged abuse by Pruette and that he is entitled to recover damages from the minister. In addition, Powell testified that the minor came to him and asked him what date the incident occured. Also under cross examination, the minor admitted to Brackett that he

and his parents had tried to issue a complaint against Pruette prior to the Oct. 12 summons but a magistrate refused to issue it because the minor did

-· _Jlot know the date of the-alleged incident. . _ .. "Whenever tile lawsuit came out we went to see a man (the magistrate)

who -said we needed a date," he said. "He said he couldn't do nothing without a date."

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NrWS HEP.ALO MORGANiON, N. C.

11,943

-~10~88

Ministe~ cleared of charges Continued from Page UA Garland Butler testified that Pru­

ette stopped by the garage and left with the two males. However, he admitted under cross examination that he had been asked to be a witness for the prosecution on the courthouse steps. Pruette, 46, testified that on Oct.

17, 1987 he could not have been with Powell and the minor because he was moving tables from one church to another from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. In addition, two ministers, the

Revs. Joe Forbes and Jerry Hub­ bard, vouched for the minister say­ ing that he had been with them during the time of the alleged inci­ dent. Hubbard also testified that the

testimony of the minor during a meeting of the executive committee of the South Mountain Baptist Asso­ ciation on July 11 at Beulah Baptist Church in Vale was different from the testimony given Friday. "He story wasn't the same," fie

said. "For one thing during the meeting he said he was only touched one time."

SEP-290

Ister's kl( Minister'tia~s J11 BJJ·-~: l W Ult ;.:.:

RALEIGH, NC 27603

N EWSEH<f R9J.JB-2079 MORGANTON, N. C.

11,9.43

as ended By JULIE BALL News Herald Staff Writer

( After two years of litigation; a highly-publicized slander lawsuit filed by a local minister has ended. Earlier this month, both sides in a

slander suit filed by the Rev. Carrell Pruette agreed not to take any fur­ ther legal action in the case. : In 1988, Pruette filed suit against

the Revs. Dennis Patton of Mount Hebron Baptist Church and Robert Tenery of Burkemont Baptist Church in addition to Tenery's wife: Willodeane Tenery, Carl and Sadie Powell and their son Norman Powell and James and Deborah Lee and their son who was a minor when U"1e suit was filed. · ; Pruette alleged in his suit that .

those named in the suit had slan­ dered him by saying he made homo­ sexual advances to Norman Powell and the minor child. , · e: The lawsuit alleged that James

Lee, Carl Powell and Tenery falsly characterized him as a "queer an- - di or as a homosexual preacher". ~ Pruette, formerly with the South _ *Please turn to pag.B

* From page one Mountains Baptist Association, also alleged that those accusations h~ft him open to public ridicule an.d ~s­ grace and caused him to lose his JOb. In May the case went to trial, and

a jury spent more than a week listening to testimony. The case ended in a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a verdict. According to the agreement

reached earlier this month, "All parties to this action have deter­ mined that further legal proceedings are in the best interests of no one." Under that agreement which is

signed by all the parties, both sides agreed not to "make any public comment about this lawsuit from and after this date." In addition, each party agreed to

pay their own legal fees. Samuel Aycock, attorney for the

Powells, said that the agreement has "been in the works for several months." Aycock said the parties may have

agreed to the compromise because, "We went through a week and a half trial, that resulted in a mistrial. It

· ·, \ was· disappointing to all parties." · \ "The case took a toll on every­

body," said Aycock. Dan Kuehnert; attorney for the

'1"1 ·1 ends Lees declined to comment on the agreement because of the provision that prohibits further public com­ ment about the case. Steve Brackett, attorney for Pru­

ette, could not be reached to com­ ment on the case.

GREEN RIVER BAPTIST ASSOCIATION MINUTES, 1979

PINEY KNOB BAPTIST CHURCH Organized 1872

First Day October 18, 1979

Rev. Carrell Pruette Pastor

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M

Second Day