Paul Jeffrey Paul Jeffrey/United Methodist Ne
After the trial
United Methodist Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño speaks to the press in Glenview, Illinois, on September 22, 2023, following a unanimous not guilty verdict rendered by the jury in her trial on violating church laws. She is accompanied by her counsel in the trial: the Rev. Scott Campbell (left) and Judge Jon Gray. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.)
I have no intention or desire to weigh in on important discussions that are taking place around the trial of Bishop Minerva Carcaño, but there is a widespread misperception that must be corrected before it becomes problematic for future trials.
Counsel for the Church Rev. Janet Forbes, in her closing argument, stated that if any single specification (claims of fact the committee on investigation believes support the charge) were found to be true, then the jury needed to find the charge itself to be true. This is not so.
There is nothing in The Book of Discipline that says anything of the sort. The trial court (jury) is free to determine the weight that any specification should be given as a determining factor in proving a charge. It is even possible that every specification listed under a particular charge could be true, and that still would not amount to clear and convincing evidence that the charge itself was proved.
Specifications contribute to supporting the charge. They are not charges themselves. If it were so, the accusing body would be free to say, “the sun was shining when this happened” and, if that had been proved by weather records, that would mean the respondent was guilty of whatever charge had been leveled. I wanted to say this as clearly as I can now, before this misunderstanding takes root.
The Rev. Scott Campbell, a retired clergy member of the New England Annual Conference, served as the advocate for Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño during her recent trial.