LAWYERS FOR OLD SAINT ANDREW'S CONTEST EPISCOPAL CLAIMS
with addendum
Today, Monday, 12 September 2022, Alan Runyan and Andrew Platte, attorneys for the separatist contingent claiming Old Saint Andrew's, West Ashley, Charleston, filed "Return to Motion for Relief from Judgment" with the South Carolina Supreme Court. This was in opposition to the Episcopal lawyers' petition to the SCSC on September 1, 2022, asking the court to reverse its August 17 ruling granting the local property of OSA to the present occupants. The SCSC had ruled twice (Aug. 2, 2017 and April 20, 2022) that OSA was property of the Episcopal Church. Both of these orders were followed by Remittiturs from the SCSC to the circuit court.
In today's paper, Runyan and Platte argued that the August 17 order was proper and correctly derived. They asserted the SCSC had issued a response to an appeal, not a declaratory judgment, as the TEC lawyers claimed, even though it had the power and right to issue a declaratory judgment. Furthermore, they tried to sweep away the affidavit in the Episcopal petition as outside the record. They said it was made in 2018 and could have been entered into the circuit court proceedings but had not been.
The obvious problem in today's paper is, if the court had the right to respond to an appeal in August, as the secessionists' lawyers asserted, it also had the same right in April. In April the SCSC declared the local property of OSA to belong to the Episcopal Church. Why should not that order stand (it was remitted to the circuit court)? The August order directly contradicted the finding of April and was not followed by a Remittitur to the lower court.
It was curious that today's paper said nothing about the other parish in contest, Holy Cross, of Stateburg.
We shall see if the Episcopal lawyers file a reply to today's Return.
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ADDENDUM. Sept. 13, 2022.
The SCSC posted on their website this morning the paper from the other parish in question, Holy Cross, of Stateburg.
Mr. C. Pierce Campbell, attorney for Holy Cross, filed "Return to Motion for Relief from Judgment" with the SCSC on September 12, 2022. He asked the court to deny the Episcopal motion on the basis that it presented no new arguments or evidence that would change the outcome.
Thus, on yesterday, 12 September, both OSA and Holy Cross officially asked the state supreme court to dismiss the Episcopal lawyers' motion to reverse and rehear the judgments on these two parishes.
On Aug. 2, 2017 and on April 20, 2022, the majority of the justices ruled that both parishes were property of the Episcopal Church and remitted the decision to the lower court for implementation. On August 17, the SCSC reversed itself and declared these two parishes owned the local properties outright. However, they have not remitted this to the circuit court.
Now, we wait to see if the Episcopal side will file a reply to these two returns.
