Hearing panel issues emergency order forbidding sale of St James Newport Beach by Bishop Bruno

The Hearing Panel reviewing charges of misconduct filed against the Bishop of Los Angeles today issues an emergency injunction forbidding the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno from selling the property of St James the Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach.

The 17 June 2017 order signed by the president of the hearing panel, the Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith, Bishop of Southern Virginia, stated that it had been informed by one of the complainants in the case that Bishop Bruno had entered into a contract to sell the waterfront property in Newport Beach, Cal., the underlying issue in the dispute.

In response to requests for clarification and explanation, the parties submitted answers to the hearing panel on 15 June. However, attorneys for Bishop Bruno declined to answer whether their client had signed a contract for sale, offering instead objections to the request for further information.

Counsel representing the national Episcopal Church in the dispute, Church Attorney told the panel that if Bishop Bruno had entered into a sales contract, this constituted an “act of defiance and should be enjoined.”

In its order, the hearing panel said that if the allegations leveled against Bishop Bruno that he had entered into a sales agreement for the disputed property: “that conduct is disruptive, dilatory and otherwise contrary to the integrity of this proceeding.”

Accordingly the panel issued an order stating it was imposing “sanctions” against Bishop Bruno and “prohibited” him or his agents from “ selling or conveying or contracting to sell or convey the St. James property until further order of the Hearing Panel.”

June 17, 2017 Imposition of Sanctions on the Respondent by George Conger on Scribd