Jury: Pastor of Mount Hope also guilty of slander

A jury on Thursday awarded about $314,000 to a woman who sued her former church and pastor.

Jurors found Delta Township-based Mount Hope Church and its pastor, David Russell Williams, responsible for injuries Judith Dadd sustained when she was “slain in the Spirit” at a church rally in 2002.

They also found that the pastor slandered the 52-year-old Lansing woman and committed libel when he accused her of possible insurance fraud and said she had renounced her faith after she filed the lawsuit.
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Jurors reached the verdict after about 10 1/2 hours of deliberation.

One member of the seven-person jury, Stephanie Young, called the case complicated and difficult to decide.

Young, 24, said she tried to ignore the fact that a church and pastor were involved in a lawsuit.

“I looked at the evidence and I judged it based on the evidence,” Young said.

The jury also found another person to be partially responsible - five percent of $25,000, or $1,250 - for one of the counts. A friend of Dadd’s testified she anonymously sent the plaintiff a copy of a confidential letter containing statements from Williams accusing Dadd of committing insurance fraud.

Rashid said the friend was not even named in the lawsuit and he wouldn’t seek that money.
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Dadd went to the altar during a July 18, 2002 rally for church leaders and was “slain in the Spirit,” according to testimony.

She fell backward and struck her head on the floor. Dadd, who was a member of the church for 12 years but left in 2003, claims she still suffers from the effects of the fall, including increased symptoms of depression, memory loss and difficulty concentrating.

Dadd said the church, which has about 2,000 members and 6,000 attendees, was negligent because no usher was there to catch her.

Dadd also claims Williams slandered her by discussing her lawsuit at a 2005 gathering of a few hundred church leaders and in a confidential letter he later sent to about 50 members of a prayer group.

The Eaton County courtroom was packed with more than 50 spectators, including dozens of church members and several former members.