Lawyers representing pastors Anthony and Harriet Jinwright wrapped up their defenses Friday, calling four members of Greater Salem City of God – one of them Harriet Jinwright’s aunt – to testify as character witnesses.

Anthony Jinwright, senior pastor at the west Charlotte church, had finished his own testimony just before lunch.

The Jinwrights are charged with conspiracy and failure to report $1.8 million in ministry-related income on federal tax returns between 2002 and 2007. Anthony Jinwright is charged separately with mail fraud.

Prosecutors say the couple lived lavishly and received more than $5 million in compensation from Greater Salem, even as the church was failing to pay its own bills.

The four witnesses called late Friday were: Melissa Twitty, Gwen Matthews, Travent Richardson and Betty Anderson. The four were on the stand for a total of about 30 minutes. Their testimony proved to be one of the more emotional episodes in the four-week trial.

Richardson, the only man called as a character witness, described the Jinwrights as “surrogate parents.” At one point during his testimony, the former Brooklyn, N.Y., resident wiped his eyes and stopped and compose himself.

Richardson said he moved to Charlotte in 1993 from a bad neighborhood in Brooklyn. He said the Jinwrights took him in as a son at a time when he was wearing gold teeth and hoodies. He said he is now a real estate developer.

“It takes a special person to adopt, if you will, another man,” he said.

Richardson credited Anthony Jinwright with teaching him to be a father, a businessman and a man, and he credited Harriet Jinwright with teaching him to be a husband.

He faced no cross-examination.

Matthews, Harriet Jinwright’s aunt and a church elder, said Anthony Jinwright reached out to her in 2008, the year her husband died in a car crash.

“He’s been a father to me,” she told the jury.

Matthews said she believes Anthony Jinwright is a better person today because of the “ridicule and attacks” he had to endure since being indicted.

“That man is a man of character,” she said. “That man is a man the community needs.”

During cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Randall asked Matthews if there was anything he could say to change her mind about Anthony Jinwright.

“No,” she responded.

Randall: People look up to Bishop, correct?

Matthews: Yes.

Trust his judgment?

Yes.

Follow his direction?

Yes.

Revere him as a spiritual leader?

Yes.

Trust his leadership?

Yes.

Want the Bishop to be blessed?

Yes.

Randall: “What Bishop wants, Bishop gets, is that correct?”

Matthews: “That’s not the truth.”

Randall asked Matthews if she was present during Anthony Jinwright’s testimony?

Yes, she responded.

Randall: Nothing about any of that testimony has changed your opinion of him, has it?

Matthews: No.

“You believe in Bishop Jinwright without question, don’t you?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes, I do,” Matthews replied.

Twitty, in her testimony, described the Jinwrights as her spiritual parents.

“We follow him as we follow God,” she said of the Greater Salem congregation.

Betty Anderson, a member of the church for 38 years, described Anthony Jinwright as “responsible and humble.”

“He is a very giving person,” she said. “He’s a very compassionate person.”

Randall asked Anderson if anything he said could change her mind about the 53-year-old preacher.

“Absolutely nothing,” she said.

Judge Frank Whitney has scheduled closing arguments for Monday morning. Because the Jinwrights are charged separately, lawyers representing each will close separately.

Whitney previously estimated that each team would need about two hours for closing statements. He also estimated that he would need up to an hour and a half to instruct the jury.

If those estimates hold, jurors could begin deliberating late Monday.

Before court adjourned Friday, Whitney cautioned jurors to avoid discussing the case with anyone.

“You will be good citizens by remaining silent,” he said.

Editor's Note: Click here to read coverage from previous days.

AN INTERESTING ASIDE:
On Friday during lunch, we snapped the picture below on the sidewalk outside the federal courthouse. It appeared to be the result of liquid having been poured onto the concrete. Take it for what it’s worth.

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement