In their closing arguments, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued for the Trial Division of the High Court to rule in their favor in the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa’s complaint against Rev. Amaama Tofaeono and his wife Joan Aleluia, who is also an ordained CCCAS minister.

The defense wants the case dismissed.

Plaintiffs in the complaint, filed last month, are CCCAS along with Rev. Elders Eveni Mamoe, Leatulagi Faalevao, and Fiti Aofia - who are all ordained CCCAS ministers.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are seeking to evict the defendants and take back into their possession the one-story home the defendants occupy at the CCCAS headquarters at the Kanana Fou compound, after Tofaeono and his wife refused to vacate the premises following a decision earlier this year by the CCCAS Elders Committee that suspends the couple's ministerial duties for a period of time. The decision automatically removes Tofaeono from his post as Secretary General of CCCAS.

Both sides are now awaiting a court decision, following a two-day bench trial on May 30-31 that was presided over by Acting Associate Justice Elvis P. Patea, and Associate Judges Suapaia Pereira and Satele Lili’o Ali’itai.

Representing the plaintiffs is Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, while Tasi Tuiteleleapaga is the legal counsel for Tofaeono and his wife.

In closing arguments, Tuiteleleapaga said the decision by the Elders Committee to suspend for a certain period of time the ministerial duties of Tofaeono, lacks supporting evidence. Additionally, only the CCCAS general assembly can remove Tofaeono from his post of Secretary General, because it's the general assembly that elected him to the post during last year’s biannual conference.

Tauiliili-Langkilde argued that because Tofaeono’s ministerial duties are now suspended, he is no longer eligible to hold the post of Secretary General, a post that only an ordained CCCAS minister can hold.

She further argued that the decision by the Elders Committee is in accordance with the CCCAS constitution, and that sufficient evidence — both written and verbal testimony — was presented by the plaintiffs to support the decision by the Elders Committee to suspend for a certain period of time, Tofaeono’s ministerial duties.

Tuiteleleapaga disagreed, arguing that the Elders Committee decision was not in accordance with the CCCAS constitution, which clearly states that only the general assembly can remove Tofaeono from the Secretary General’s post.

The defense believes the court case came about after Mrs. Tofaeono sought out assistance from CCCAS General Assembly vice chair Rev. Elder Fa’aeteete Saifoloi regarding an issue within the couple’s family. The defense believes the private discussions between Mrs. Tofaeono and Saifoloi were confidential and Saifoloi shouldn’t have shared details of the conversations with the Elders Committee.

(The plaintiffs’ complaint cites alleged behavior by Tofaeono, claiming that around Oct. 6, 2016, Mrs. Tofaeono met with Saifoloi to allegedly register a complaint about her husband and “his abuse of their daughter within their home.”)

The only other matter, which became public information with the CCCAS, was the incident in which Mrs. Tofaeono allegedly tried to strangle a woman, who is alleged to have had a “secret relationship” with Rev. Tofaeono, while Mrs. Tofaeono was in New Zealand for education purposes. The incident became public because a report was filed with police.

The defense also argued that the Elders Committee never gave Rev. and Mrs. Tofaeono a chance to appear before them to verbally provide their side of the story, but Tauiliili-Langkilde countered that the Elders Committee did give the couple a chance to appear before them and the couple did, but that didn’t change the final decision by the Elders Committee.

Tauiliili-Langkilde requested that the court fully review all evidence - including verbal testimony provided by the plaintiffs and render a judgment in the plaintiffs’ favor.

The defense countered that the judgment should be in favor of Rev. and Mrs. Tofaeono.

Several members of the CCCAS told Samoa News that they were very surprised that the affairs of the church has landed in court and were reported by the newspaper. Most of them, according to the church members, only learned about it through the newspaper.

A CCCAS leader, who asked not be identified by name, told Samoa News that issues within the church are matters that can be resolved “within the church leadership, by following Jesus's teaching as stated in the Bible.”

Samoa News reached out to many CCCAS members for comments and all of them disagreed with top CCCAS officials in taking the matter to court.

Samoa News twice reached out to Mamoe for his reaction to comments from CCCAS members that church matters should have been resolved within the church and not in court. Mamoe has declined to comment, saying that he doesn’t want to talk to a newspaper (“ou te le fia talanoa i se nusipepa”)

Rev. and Mrs. Tofaeono told Samoa News that this case is now making it difficult for them to deal with church members and even the couple’s friends don’t want to be publicly seen with them, in fear of retribution from the CCCAS elders, who are in leadership positions.

(Original Samoan stories were published in the Lali section of Samoa News editions on June 5 and 6. English versions of the CCCAS case were published in Samoa News editions of June 8 and 9.)