Mormon Church’s Defeat of Fraud Case Affirmed by Appeals Court

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints locked down their lower court defeat of a lawsuit accusing the church of fraudulently deceiving a former member about its application of his financial contributions.

An 11-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit ruled that James Huntsman, brother of former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr., failed to show that the church misrepresented to him how his donations, known as tithes, would be used.

“Huntsman has not presented evidence that the Church did anything other than what it said,” Judge Michelle Friedland wrote in ...