KXLY
June 2, 2008
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=8411198
SPOKANE - Preaching on Sunday. Doing drugs on Monday.
That's how former Spokane preacher Herman Lewis admitted to living his life up until a 2007 arrest following a bizarre rampage at Shari's restaurant.
The admission comes from a taped confession given by Lewis where he admits to using the church as a business tool to get free money and free women.
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| Herman Lewis is restrained and taken into custody on April 30, 2007. |
The confession was played in court for the first time Monday as part of a pre-trial motion to determine whether the evidence will be admissible when a jury is seated in his trial.
Lewis faces assault, indecent liberties and attempted rape charges when he barged into a Shari's restaurant and demanded a female cook have sex with him, then punched a senior citizen who intervened before ramming a cop car when trying to make a getaway.
Defense attorneys are trying to suppress the jury from seeing the damaging videotape. The tape was played publicly for the first time in court Monday.
Lewis' attorneys have claimed that their client was too mentally ill to be held responsible for his actions, however a mental evaluation from Eastern State Hospital deemed the former pastor competent to stand trial.
When Lewis was taken into custody, he shouted to officers that he was God and said police had no authority to arrest him. However, in the confession, he admits to acting crazy because he was told that putting on a façade of insanity would help him avoid persecution.
The night before the incident, Lewis' wife took her husband to the hospital to be checked out by a psychologist for his increasingly erratic behavior. Later, during interrogation, Lewis admitted to heavy drug and alcohol use and said he frequently visited prostitutes.
Lewis was the pastor at Morning Star Baptist Church in Northwest Spokane. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bond.
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