FLORIDA
Florida Baptist Witness
Jun 12, 2012
By JAMES A. SMITH SR.
JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—The Florida Baptist Convention has filed two post-trial motions seeking reversal of an “inconsistent” May 17 jury verdict that found it liable for sexual abuse committed by a former church-planting pastor.
While the jury found the Convention liable for sexual abuse of a minor committed by a church planting-pastor, it also agreed with the Convention’s contention the pastor was not its employee.
“You can’t make a finding that we’re responsible for, in essence, behavior that is associated with someone who’s under my employ and then turn around and make a decision factually that the person was never under my employ,” said E.T. Fernandez III in a June 7 interview with Florida Baptist Witness.
“Legally, we call that an inconsistent verdict,” the Jacksonville-based attorney representing the Convention explained.
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