The long-running lawsuit between Rev. Jimmy Swaggart’s Family Worship Center Church and a local investor group trying to acquire a 60-acre parcel on the church campus is, once again, in the hands of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Earlier this fall, attorneys representing Health Science Park Inc., which has been battling Swaggart’s church for the land since 2005, filed writs with the high court seeking relief from a June ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals that delivered a major blow to their case.
That ruling overturned a February 2016 judgment giving HSP the right to acquire the Swaggart property—one of the last large, undeveloped tracts of land along Bluebonnet Boulevard—for the pre-Katrina price the two sides had agreed upon in mid-2005. The judgement, which came after a three-day jury trial in 19th Judicial District Court, also ordered Swaggart to pay HSP $4.4 million in damages, plus interest.
But the First Circuit panel ruled earlier this year that the trial court erred in the way it handled a controversial piece of evidence dealing with the purchase option on the property and sent the case back to the District Court for a new trial.
In August, HSP attorney Claude Reynaud unsuccessfully sought a rehearing from the First Circuit so took the matter to the state Supreme Court, which is not expected to rule until at least February.
When it does rule, the high court could do any number of things, including reversing the First Circuit decision and reinstating the trial court judgement, sending the matter back to the First Circuit for further review, asking for more information and holding oral arguments, or upholding the appellate ruling, which would mean a new trial.
This is not the first time the Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on the controversial and convoluted case. Several years ago, attorneys for Swaggart’s side took writs to the Supreme Court over an issue that came up prior to trial.
As the case drags on into what will be its 14th year, HSP owners Steve Jones and Terry Jones, who are not related, remain optimistic about the future prospects for the property, which they want to develop into a mixed-use project that would serve the nearby Health District.
“Absolutely, we still want to go forward,” Terry Jones says. “We think this could be something really great for Baton Rouge and everything we’ve seen in this area in terms of growth in the health district and the Bluebonnet-Essen corridor is positive.”
But Jones acknowledges it might be years more before the matter is finally resolved, noting that, “we’ve had a lot of practice waiting.”
