The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in favor of a woman who sued a church and its pastor after she was injured when no one caught her fall after she was “overcome by the spirit of the Lord” during a rally. Here’s more from the Lansing State Journal:
Dadd, who is in her 50s, sued the church and its pastor after she was injured while “slain in the Spirit” – falling backward after being “overcome by the Spirit of the Lord” – during a rally at Mount Hope Church in Delta Township in 2002.
Dadd claimed Pastor Dave Williams defamed her when he accused her of insurance fraud, faking her injuries and renouncing her faith. A jury awarded her more than $317,000 damages for her injuries, as well as libel, slander and false light in a 2007 trial.
The decision reversed a state Appeals Court decision that threw out most of a jury award to Judith Dadd, but the state’s high court has reinstated $317,000 to the woman.
