La. Judge: State Can Pursue Church Theft

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (AP) — A state district judge has rejected arguments on behalf of a West Feliciana Parish police juror asserting that the state lacks authority to investigate a tax-exempt church's finances.

Attorneys for Juror John Cobb asked District Judge William G. Carmichael on Thursday to throw out an indictment charging Cobb with three counts of felony theft.

Cobb and six others, including his wife, are accused of diverting insurance money from a defunct Clinton nonprofit organization and Cobb's church, Union Bethel Family Church at Weyanoke.

The Advocate reports that Carmichael also denied a motion to prohibit prosecutors from using church financial records obtained from a St. Francisville bank and Cobb’s records from a credit union as evidence in the case.