Court to decide if religious confession can be used in court

DETROIT — Michigan Court of Appeals judges heard arguments this week on a case that could have serious repercussions for church members: Can what you confess to your pastor be used against you in a court of law?

A three-judge panel of the court is being asked to decide whether a Baptist pastor violated Michigan's priest-penitent privilege by testifying against a church member in a rape case.

"This is a very dangerous case because it could have very serious repercussions for religion," the rape suspect's lawyer, Raymond Cassar of Farmington Hills, said Tuesday. "If a pastor is allowed to testify against a member of his church about privileged communications, no one will want to confess their sins to their pastors anymore."

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Teri Odette argued in court documents that the privilege doesn't apply in this case.

"The communication was initiated by the pastor — not by the defendant — and was done to ascertain whether the victim was telling the truth, not for the purpose of spiritual guidance," she said.

In 2009, Samuel D. Bragg and his mother arrived at Metro Baptist Church in Belleville to be questioned by their pastor, the Rev. John Vaprezsan, about the rape of a 9-year-old girl.

Vaprezsan got Bragg, then 17, to confess that he had raped a 9-year-old girl during a sleepover at his home in 2007 when he was 15.

Two years later, after attending a church retreat on purity, the girl confided to her mother, who told Vaprezsan.

Vaprezsan testified against Bragg — over the objections of Bragg's attorney — at a preliminary examination last March.

Vaprezsan said on Tuesday that he couldn't comment on the case.

Asked whether he had ever encountered such a situation, he said: "As pastors, we're involved in a lot of situations with families. I really don't consider the repercussions, I just try to help people."

Although a district judge ordered Bragg to stand trial in Wayne County Circuit Court, Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway tossed Vaprezsan's testimony, saying it violated Michigan's priest-penitent privilege.

State law says no priest or pastor shall be required to disclose any confessions made to him or her in their professional capacity.