Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church, Inc. v. Sawyer, WFAA-T

Citation90 F.3d 118
Decision Date07 August 1996
Docket NumberI,No. 95-10218,WFAA-T,95-10218
PartiesRICO Bus.Disp.Guide 9093, 24 Media L. Rep. 2209 WORD OF FAITH WORLD OUTREACH CENTER CHURCH, INC., A dissolved Corporation on behalf of its members; Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church, a Church on Behalf of its Members, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Diane SAWYER, An individual; Capital Cities/ABC Inc., A New York Corporation; American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., A Delaware Corporation; ABC News, Inc., A Delaware Corporation; Robbie Gordon, An individual; Kelly Sutherland, An individual; Jeff Cooke; Trinity Foundation, Inc., A Texas non-profit Corporation; Ole Anthony, An individual; Harry Guetzlaff, An individual; Powell Holloway, An individual; John Does, and/or Jane 1-30, Defendants-Appellees, A H Belo Corp., A Texas Corporation;nc., A Texas Corporation; Bill Brown; Dallas Morning News, Inc., A Texas Corporation; Ed Housewright, An individual; Steve Blow, An individual; Ed Bark, An individual, Defendants.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

John L. Ross, Rhonda Johnson Byrd, Scott Patrick Stolley, Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, Dallas, TX, J.C. Joyce, Tulsa, OK, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Floyd Abrams, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, New York City, Frank Charles Vecella, Dallas, TX, for defendants-appellees Sawyer, Capital Cities/ABC Inc., American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ABC News, Inc., Gordon, Sutherland and Cooke.

Richard Alexander Rohan, Barbara M.G. Lynn, Dallas, TX, for defendants-appellees Trinity Foundation, Inc., Anthony, Guetzlaff and Holloway.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, JONES and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

This lawsuit began as a result of critical television reports on the weekly ABC news program PrimeTime Live concerning Reverend Robert Tilton and Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church. The Church and Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church, Inc. appeal the decision of the district court dismissing their claims against ABC and others who assisted ABC in preparing the shows for violation of the RICO statute and a federal civil rights statute. 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The facts are distilled from appellants' pleadings. Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church is a Christian church based in Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. 1 Robert Tilton is the Church's head pastor, and central to the Church's beliefs is the importance of tithing and making vows to God. The Church teaches that expressions of faith as manifested by financial vows to God, through the Church, are rewarded by God with physical, spiritual, and financial prosperity. At the peak of the Church's popularity, approximately 8,000 people regularly attended services, with an additional national television audience estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

In addition to weekly services and television broadcasts, the Church on a regular basis mails items of correspondence to members who have asked that their names be placed on the Church's mailing list. Often, these mailings include materials that the member can return to the Church in an enclosed preaddressed envelope, such as a prayer cloth or prayer request, and which Reverend Tilton has promised to pray over. The Church classifies mail returned as a result of these mailings as "regular mail." The Church also routinely receives unsolicited pieces of mail, known by the Church as "white mail."

In the spring of 1991, journalists working for ABC's weekly news program PrimeTime Live ("PrimeTime" ) began an investigation of Tilton. PrimeTime's investigation was aided by Ole Anthony and others affiliated with the Trinity Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation founded by Anthony for the purpose of supporting Christ centered communication projects. Anthony is passionately opposed to some televangelists, including Tilton.

On November 21, 1991, PrimeTime broadcast a report concerning three televangelists, including Tilton, that was highly critical of Tilton and his fund-raising practices. A week later, PrimeTime broadcast a brief update reporting reactions to the November 21 broadcast. On July 9, 1992, the original November 21 program was rebroadcast, with certain minor changes, together with a follow-up report. PrimeTime's ratings, which had been low, significantly improved following the Tilton broadcast.

The theme of the broadcasts was that Tilton personally acquired millions of dollars of donations sent to the Church, and that he never prayed over thousands of prayer requests. PrimeTime's claim that Tilton failed to pray over the prayer requests derived from prayer requests purportedly found during "trash sweeps" conducted by persons affiliated with the Trinity Foundation at the direction of ABC representatives.

The Church disputes PrimeTime's claim that prayer requests where thrown away before the promised prayers by Tilton. As evidence, the Church points to its sophisticated document and financial accounting system which accounts for every piece of mail received and its contents. This system involves a bank and a mail-handling contractor, and the Church asserts that it can establish that none of the prayer requests reportedly found in the trash could have been found at the times and places claimed by those who carried out the "trash sweeps." Instead, the Church claims, the items depicted in the trash consist of: (1) Church mailings received directly by ABC operatives who had placed their names on the Church's mailing lists, and which were never mailed back to the Church; (2) items obtained from the Church by the defendants while attending worship services, and which also were never mailed back to the Church; (3) "regular mail" and other items stolen by the defendants from the bank and mail-handling contractor; and (4) "white mail" stolen from either the bank or the Church.

Following the broadcast, Church membership and financial giving dropped sharply. This, in turn, required the Church to close its television ministry and reduce its outreach ministry. Additionally, since the PrimeTime broadcasts, the Church has been investigated by numerous local, state, and federal authorities.

In November 1993, the Church brought suit on behalf of its members against Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., Diane Sawyer, co-anchor of PrimeTime, the Trinity Foundation, Ole Anthony, and several other business entities and persons associated with the broadcasts. The Church alleged that through a pattern of racketeering acts ABC and the other defendants sought to drive the Church out of business. The alleged racketeering acts included interstate transportation of stolen computer disks; theft of donations, Church mail, and other Church property by certain defendants or by bank, mail-handling, or Church employees who had been persuaded to help the defendants; wire fraud in the form of false statements made during broadcasts; a scheme to deprive the Church, its bank, its mail-handling contractor, and its law firm of the honest services of its loyal employees; and obstruction of justice. Additionally, the Church sought recovery pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), claiming defendants conspired to deprive the Church and its members of their right to exercise their religious beliefs.

All defendants moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The district court granted the motions, finding that the Church failed to plead a pattern of racketeering activity, and that conspiracies motivated by religious animus are not actionable under § 1985(3). The Church appeals.

II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review

We review de novo the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim. Capital Parks, Inc. v. Southeastern Advertising and Sales Sys., Inc., 30 F.3d 627, 629 (5th Cir.1994). The district court's decision may be upheld "only if it appears that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proven consistent with the allegations." Rubinstein v. Collins, 20 F.3d 160, 166 (5th Cir.1994) (internal quotation and citation omitted). We accept as true all well-pleaded facts, and view them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Capital Parks, 30 F.3d at 629.

B. Racketeering Claims

The Church alleges the defendants violated 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) and (d) of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968. Subsection 1962(c) prohibits persons employed by or associated with any enterprise from conducting or participating in the enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering. 2 2 Subsection 1962(d) prohibits a conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a), (b), or (c). Under both subsections, RICO claims require "1) a person who engages in 2) a pattern of racketeering activity, 3) connected to the acquisition, establishment, conduct, or control of an enterprise." In re Burzynski, 989 F.2d 733, 741-42 (5th Cir.1993) (quoting Delta Truck & Tractor, Inc. v. J.I. Case Co., 855 F.2d 241, 242 (5th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1079, 109 S.Ct. 1531, 103 L.Ed.2d 836 (1989)).

The central issue on appeal is whether the Church sufficiently pled a "pattern of racketeering activity." 3 "Racketeering activity" consists of two or more predicate offenses, defined by the statute to include acts violating federal wire or mail fraud statutes. 18 U.S.C. § 1961. To establish a pattern of racketeering activity, the Supreme Court explained in H.J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Telephone, Co. 492 U.S. 229, 109 S.Ct. 2893, 106 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989), that a plaintiff "must show that the racketeering predicates are related, and that they amount to or pose a threat of continued criminal activity." Id. at 239, 109 S.Ct. at 2900 (emphasis added). The element of relatedness is established if the acts have the "same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission." Id. at 240, 109 S.Ct. at 2901 (internal...

To continue reading

Request your trial
122 cases
  • Castrillo v. American Home Mortg. Servicing, Inc., Civil Action No.: 09-4369.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana
    • November 16, 2009
    ... ... leave is doing so after undue delay, in bad faith, or for a dilatory motive. See Jamieson By and ... 2893, 106 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989); see also Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church, Inc. v ... ...
  • Dale v. Ala Acquisitions, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi
    • April 16, 2002
    ... ... 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B) & (5); Word of Faith World Outreach Ctr. Church, Inc. v ... a threat of continued criminal activity." Sawyer, 90 F.3d at 122 (emphasis in original) (citing ... ...
  • Andrade v. Chojnacki
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas
    • July 1, 1999
    ... ... occurred at the Mount Carmel religious center outside of Waco, Texas. Many of the underlying ... group of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, known as the Branch Davidians, re-located to ... death, and prophesied that the end of the world, as foretold in the Christian Bible's Book of ... granted." Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Sales, Inc. v. Avondale Shipyards, Inc., 677 F.2d 1045, ...          Word of Faith World Outreach Center Church, Inc. v ... v. Sawyer, 90 F.3d at 122, quoting In re Burzynski, 989 ... ...
  • Lezzar v. Heathman
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas
    • October 11, 2012
    ... ... FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., 614 F.3d 145, 148 (5th Cir. 2010), quoting ... leave to amend include "undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, ... 2000); World of Faith World Outreach Center Church, Inc. v ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results
10 books & journal articles
  • RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS
    • United States
    • American Criminal Law Review No. 58-3, July 2021
    • July 1, 2021
    ...but that a few months is not considered to be a signif‌icant amount of time); Word of Faith World Outreach Ctr. Church, Inc. v. Sawyer, 90 F.3d 118, 122 (5th Cir. 1996) (holding pattern can be shown by either a closed period of repeated conduct or an open period threatening future repetitio......
  • Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
    • United States
    • American Criminal Law Review Vol. 49 No. 2, March 2012
    • March 22, 2012
    ...and results and that continuity can be either closed- ended or open-ended); Word of Faith World Outreach Ctr. Church, Inc. v. Sawyer, 90 F.3d 118, 122 (5th Cir. 1996) (holding that pattern can be shown by either a closed period of repeated conduct or an open period threatening future The Se......
  • Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
    • United States
    • American Criminal Law Review Vol. 51 No. 4, September 2014
    • September 22, 2014
    ...and results and that continuity can be either closed- ended or open-ended); Word of Faith World Outreach Ctr. Church, Inc. v. Sawyer, 90 F.3d 118, 122 (5th Cir. 1996) (holding that pattern can be shown by either a closed period of repeated conduct or an open period threatening future The Se......
  • Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
    • United States
    • American Criminal Law Review Vol. 43 No. 2, March 2006
    • March 22, 2006
    ...be established unless predicate acts relate to each other and have continuity); Word of Faith World Outreach Ctr. Church, Inc. v. Sawyer, 90 F.3d 118, 122 (5th Cir. 1996) (following H.J. Inc. and concluding that relatedness of racketeering acts is established if acts have "same or similar p......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT