U.S. District judge lifts CPA requirement in Westboro case

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 7, 2008 by Danny Jacobs

A Kansas church that's challenging a $5 million verdict for picketing a Marine's funeral will not have to provide a financial statement from a certified public accountant in its quest to forego an appeal bond -- in part because the church was unable to find a CPA during tax season.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, in a letter postponing the hearing set for Thursday until April 3, said the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church can instead provide a sworn statement by its corporate representative about the church's assets and a copy of its annual report to Kansas regulators indicating the church has no shareholders. Bennett also ordered the income tax returns of Pastor Fred Phelps and his two daughters be kept sealed, and for their bank account numbers and bank names to be redacted from any versions released to the public.

On Feb. 21, Bennett ordered the financial and bank statements to be available for a March 6 hearing on the church's request to appeal the verdict in favor of Albert W. Snyder without posting a bond.

But, in a letter to Bennett dated Feb. 27, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis said they had a professional relationship with only one accountant in Topeka, who was hospitalized with pneumonia; and that of the 29 accounting firms they contacted through the city's phone book, none felt the judge's instructions were clear enough, nor could they complete an audit in less than two weeks, particularly just before April 15.

"One [firm] reported that if they did nothing else but this between now and March 6, they were not sure it could be done," the sisters wrote in asking for more time. They noted the defendants had submitted financial records during jury trial in October.

Jonathan L. Katz, who is representing Fred Phelps and the church, wrote to Bennett on Feb. 28, agreeing with the sisters' request for a postponement. Katz, of Marks & Katz LLC in Silver Spring, also said that according to Timothy Phelps, the church's corporate representative and Fred Phelps' son, the church has never used a CPA.

Sean E. Summers, one of the lawyers representing Snyder, of York, Pa., said the delay was understandable because of the quick turnaround required.

"It won't affect anything from our perspective," he said. "Everything's on track."

In October, a jury in U.S. District Court in Baltimore ordered Westboro, Fred Phelps and his two daughters to pay Snyder $10.9 million in compensatory and punitive damages for picketing Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder's March 2006 funeral in Westminster with signs that read "Semper Fi Fags" and "You are going to hell," among others. Bennett lowered the damages to $5 million last month.

A picket by the church in front of the courthouse scheduled before the hearing Thursday was also moved to April 3.