Claiming to have "over 200 letters" that prove Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison "was deceived and duped," the convicted bishop's attorneys have asked that the charges against him be dismissed, or that he get a new trial.
In February, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop issued its final judgment and sentence that Bennison should be deposed from the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church for having engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.
Bennison, who has been inhibited or barred from exercising his ordained ministry since October 2007 when he was first ordered to stand trial, appealed his sentence of deposition in mid-March.
The appeal is due to be heard by the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop, which is essentially an appeals court. Canon IV.6 of the Episcopal Church's canons outlines the appeal process. The appeal court will not begin its process until the trial court rules on Bennison's latest motion.
The bishop, 65, was tried in June 2008 on charges that 35 years ago as rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he failed to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, a 24-year-old seminary student whom he had hired as youth minister, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a 14-year-old parishioner. The abuse lasted for more than three years.
The rest-
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_107134_ENG_HTM.htm
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