杰弗里·柯林斯（JEFFREY COLLINS）报道：北卡罗来纳州一个隐秘宗教团体的一名领导人所涉的袭击和绑架案，在首次审判因无法达成裁决而结束九年多后，似乎终于要重回法庭。
JEFFREY COLLINS An assault and kidnapping case against a leader of a secretive North Carolina religious group appears to be finally returning to the courtroom more than nine years after her first trial ended without a verdict.
“信心之道团契”（Word of Faith Fellowship）的领导人布鲁克·科文顿（Brooke Covington）曾于2017年首次受审，被控二级绑架罪和普通袭击罪。检方称，她在13年多前按住并殴打了该团体的一名前成员。
Word of Faith Fellowship leader Brooke Covington was first tried in 2017 on second-degree kidnapping and simple assault charges. Prosecutors said she held down and beat a one-time member of the group more than 13 years ago.
由于陪审团团长将个人研究带入审议过程，该案最终以流审告终。科文顿一直坚称自己无罪。
That case ended in a mistrial after the jury foreman brought his own research into deliberations. Covington has maintained she is innocent.
在此期间，新冠疫情的爆发、旨在罢免原检察官的行动（该行动最终导致提出请求的律师被吊销执业执照）、双方律师的去世或退休，以及将案件移交给新司法管辖区的新检察官，都导致了重审的推迟。
In the meantime, the COVID-19 outbreak, a move to remove the original prosecutor that ended with the suspension of the law license of the attorney making the request, deaths or retirements of lawyers on both sides and handing the trial to a new prosecutor in a new jurisdiction have all delayed a new trial.
据法庭记录显示，科文顿的审判定于周一在邦科姆县（Buncombe County）开始。新任检察官和科文顿的律师均未回复寻求审判细节的置评请求。
Covington’s trial is set to begin Monday in Buncombe County, according to court records. Both the new prosecutor and Covington’s lawyer didn’t respond to messages seeking details about the trial.
马修·芬纳（Matthew Fenner）于2010年十几岁时随母亲加入了“信心之道”。据芬纳称，当时他正在北卡罗来纳州斯平代尔（Spindale）的教会大院参加礼拜，包括科文顿在内的成员对他开始了教会所谓的“爆破”（blasting）仪式。芬纳说，成员们将他按住，对他进行了长达两个小时的勒颈和殴打，同时其他人则在祈祷以驱逐“同性恋恶魔”。
Matthew Fenner joined Word of Faith as a teenager in 2010 with his mother. He was at a service on the church’s compound in Spindale, North Carolina, when members including Covington started what the church called a “blasting” session on him, according to Fenner. Members held him down and choked and beat him for two hours while others prayed to expel “homosexual demons,” Fenner said.
“信心之道”是一个非宗派新教教会，由萨姆·惠利（Sam Whaley）和简·惠利（Jane Whaley）于1979年在夏洛特和阿什维尔之间的蓝岭山脉山脚下创立。成员们视简·惠利为先知。
Word of Faith is a nondenominational Protestant church that was founded in 1979 by Sam and Jane Whaley in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlotte and Asheville. Members consider Jane Whaley a prophet.
2017年，美联社发表了一系列关于“信心之言”教会的报道，详细记录了前教会成员对虐待行为的指控。美联社采访了全球数十名前会众，聆听了数小时与教会领导人的秘密录音对话，并审阅了数百页的执法、法院及儿童福利文件。
In 2017, The Associated Press published a series of stories about Word of Faith that detailed former church members’ allegations of abuse. The AP spoke to dozens of former congregants around the world , listened to hours of secretly recorded conversations with church leaders, and reviewed hundreds of pages of law enforcement, court and child welfare documents.
惠利否认她或其他教会领导人曾虐待“信心之言”的成员。她还表示，任何纪律处分都受到宪法宗教自由原则的保护。
Whaley has denied that she or other church leaders ever abused Word of Faith members. She has also said that any discipline would be protected by the Constitution’s freedom of religion tenet.
该教会称，向美联社提出的指控是虚假的，是由“某些前成员”出于针对教会的目的而捏造的，并强调该教会不纵容虐待行为。
The church said the allegations made to the AP were false and made by “certain former members” out to target the church and that it does not condone abuse.
在芬纳的律师指控地区检察官泰德·贝尔在处理此案时偏袒“信心之言”教会后，该案件被移交给了特别检察官。
The case was turned over to a special prosecutor after Fenner’s lawyer accused District Attorney Ted Bell of siding with Word of Faith in his handling of the case.
律师安德鲁·拉布雷什称，贝尔未调查新的证据或证人，并与科温顿达成了一项协议，撤销了针对他的重罪绑架指控。
Attorney Andrew LaBreche said Bell didn’t investigate new evidence or witnesses and made a deal to drop the felony kidnapping charge against Covington.
贝尔提供了短信和其他证据，证明当“信心之言”的成员试图将谈话引向袭击案件时，他拒绝与他们交谈。
Bell provided text messages and other evidence he refused to talk to Word of Faith members when they tried to steer conversations toward the assault cases.
高等法院法官威廉·斯特泽不仅驳回了拉布雷什要求撤换检察官的请求，还在其命令中指出，拉布雷什“反复的不诚实行为以及对法律职业造成的重大损害”导致法官暂停其律师执照三年。他还判贝尔获得律师费。
Superior Court Judge William Stetzer not only denied LaBreche’s request to remove the prosecutor, but in his order said LaBreche’s “repeated acts of dishonesty and the significant harm to the legal profession” led the judge to suspend his law license for three years. He also awarded Bell legal fees.
拉布雷什正在对该裁决提出上诉，其执照暂停令已推迟至其案件得到审理时执行。
LaBreche is appealing the ruling, and his suspension has been delayed until his case can be heard.
十年前，“信心之言”在北卡罗来纳州约有700名成员，但一份由前教会领导人签署的宣誓声明称，目前成员人数已减少至约300至400人。
Word of Faith had about 700 members in North Carolina a decade ago, but a sworn statement from a former church leader said membership had now dwindled to about 300 to 400 people.
美联社报道称，该教会控制了其成员生活的几乎方方面面，包括他们与谁结婚、在学校学习什么科目，以及是否可以上大学。在分贝极高的集体祈祷中，成员们经常遭到耳光、掐脖子，并被推倒在地。
The AP reported that the church controlled almost every aspect of their members’ lives, including who they married, what subjects they studied in school and whether they could go to college. Members were regularly slapped, choked and thrown to the floor during high-decibel group prayer .
美联社的调查还发现，该教会及其数百名追随者控制了执法部门和社会服务机构，阻碍了公正的调查。
The AP investigation also found that the church and its hundreds of followers controlled law enforcement and social services , preventing fair investigations.