A lesbian minister acquitted in a church trial over her sexuality says she figured her case would be vigorously debated at this year's General Conference of the United Methodist Church, but didn't expect a review of whether the verdict should be overturned.
"This sort of seems like an end-run appeal process to me," the Rev. Karen Dammann told The Associated Press on Monday in a phone interview from a town on the Oregon Coast, where she was visiting family.
Dammann's lawyer, Lindsay Thompson, filed briefs Monday with the Judicial Council, the 8.3 million-member denomination's highest court, challenging its review of the case and accusing the church of breaking its own rules.
"Essentially, they are trying to create a means of appeal of something that is not appealable," he said, noting that church rules state the church cannot appeal a not-guilty verdict.
Stephen Drachler, a spokesman for the church, declined to comment on specifics of the case. "I think it's appropriate to wait and see what the Judicial Council says rather than prejudge," he said.
Dammann, 47 and most recently pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, disclosed three years ago that she was in a longtime relationship with a woman and that they had a son together.
On March 20, a jury of 13 pastors acquitted her of violating the church's ban on the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. The decision, which followed a three-day trial in Bothell, outraged conservatives.
On Saturday, the denomination's Judicial Council ruled that under Methodist law, the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Delegates at the church's General Conference, entering its final week in Pittsburgh, then ordered the council to re-examine whether Dammann's acquittal contradicts the Book of Discipline's ban on appointing self-avowed practicing homosexuals as pastors.
The Judicial Council is expected to issue its "declaratory decision" before the General Conference ends Friday.
In its brief, Dammann's legal team said the Judicial Council failed to give them the required 15 days' notice that it was reviewing Dammann's case. "We've really had to scramble to respond to this," Thompson told the AP.
The brief also asserts that the request for a "declaratory decision" from the Judicial Council violates church law by trying to impose retroactive punishment.
The church's Pacific Northwest Conference, which brought the case against Dammann yet applauded her acquittal, filed an amicus brief on her behalf.
"Rev. Dammann's trial is over," the brief said. "The trial ended when the jury returned its verdict of acquittal, from which the church has no right to appeal."
The General Conference is held every four years to set church policy and has been a battleground on homosexuality for decades.
Dammann remains on medical leave to care for her 5-year-old son, Beckett, who has a respiratory illness.
She said she's praying the Judicial Council rules in favor of the church's principle of inclusiveness. "I just hate to see us repeating history," she said. "The struggle over racial and ethnic inclusion, and the ordination of women - we look back at that now and say, what was the big deal?"