McKnight v. Wakefield Missionary Baptist Church, Inc.

• Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Decided: October 20, 2023
• Docket: 290A22
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA

No. 290A22

Filed 20 October 2023

CHARLOTTE MCKNIGHT and AUDREY FOSTER, in their official capacity as trustees for and on behalf of WAKEFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, an unincorporated association, plaintiffs

v. WAKEFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., BARBARA WILLIAMS, APRIL HIGH, ALTON HIGH, EKERE ETIM, ROSALIND ETIM, HOUSTON HINSON, NATALIE HARRIS, and DARRYL HIGH, defendants __________________________________________

WAKEFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., counterclaim plaintiff

v.

CHARLOTTE MCKNIGHT, AUDREY FOSTER, LEROY JEFFREYS and JULIUS MONTAGUE, in their official capacity as trustees and/or officers for and on behalf of WAKEFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, an unincorporated association, counterclaim defendants.

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a)(2) from an order and opinion on

motions for summary judgment entered on 18 February 2022, a permanent injunction

and final judgment entered on 2 June 2022, and an order for award of costs entered

on 2 June 2022 by Judge Adam M. Conrad, Special Superior Court Judge for Complex

Business Cases, in Superior Court, Wake County, after the case was designated a

mandatory complex business case by the Chief Justice pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-

45.4(a). On 16 June 2023, the Supreme Court allowed in part and denied in part

defendants’ and counterclaim plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the appeal, dismissing all

issues arising from the 18 February 2022 order and opinion on motions for summary MCKNIGHT V. WAKEFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, INC.

Opinion of the Court

judgment. Heard in the Supreme Court on 20 September 2023.

Michael A. Jones for plaintiffs/counterclaim defendant-appellants.

Kitchen Law, PLLC, by S.C. Kitchen, for defendants/counterclaim plaintiff- appellees.

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED.1

1 The permanent injunction and final judgment is available at https://appellate.nccourts.org/orders/2022-06-02_Permanent-Injunction-and-Final- Judgment.pdf. The order awarding costs is available at https://appellate.nccourts.org/orders/2022-06-02_Order-on-Motion-for-Award-of-Costs.pdf.

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