Thursday, September 6, 2007

Juanita Bynum Changes Her Mind and Divorces

Evangelist Bynum files for divorce
She plans to attend Obama fund-raiser, seeks to talk to candidate about domestic violence

By D. AILEEN DODD, S.A. REID
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Published on: 09/06/07

National evangelist Juanita Bynum apparently has filed for divorce, more than two weeks after the alleged attack by her husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks III.

A relative on Thursday said that Bynum has filed for divorce but court records were not available early Thursday. Bynum's publicist, Amy Malone, would not comment.
Bynum, 48, returned to the national spotlight this week after recovering from the alleged beating by Weeks, the pastor and co-founder of Global Destiny Ministries in metro Atlanta.

Bynum called a press conference on Tuesday, a few hours before she hosted an international Christian talk show on Trinity Broadcasting Network. She appeared poised and soft-spoken before news cameras. She wore her wedding ring on her right hand. The pastor has been separated from her husband for more than three months.

Calling herself "the new face of domestic violence," Bynum is expected to be part of an A-list crowd Saturday at a fund-raiser for Barack Obama's presidential bid.
The party is being hosted by media magnate Oprah Winfrey at her 42-acre estate in California.

Bynum is part of a guest list that includes celebrities, politicians and other news makers.

"She received an invitation to attend the event at Oprah's home,'' said Malone. Bynum is hoping to talk directly with Obama or members of his presidential campaign team about national domestic violence concerns.

Weeks' lawyer, Louis Tesser, has said that Weeks "hopes he doesn't wind up getting a divorce." On Wednesday, Weeks broke his silence for the first time since the alleged Aug. 21 domestic violence incident by issuing a written statement through his lawyers.

In it, Weeks cautioned against a rush to judgment and said he would share his version of what happened that night at the appropriate time.

Bynum was allegedly beaten, choked, and stomped to the ground in an attack. Weeks was charged with felony aggravated assault, felony terroristic threats and two counts of simple battery in connection to the incident.

Weeks' appearance in Fulton County Superior Court originally set for Friday has been postponed indefinitely. The case has been reassigned to a different judge. He could face up to 27 years in jail if convicted.

1 comment:

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