Schedule for Doe v. Diocese of Knoxville
All parties have agreed to a schedule that anticipates a trial in 2027.
Dear Friends,
According to a recent court filing, the plaintiff and defendants have agreed upon a schedule in the case of John Doe (pseudonym) v. the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville and Richard F. Stika (Case No. C-22-014622). The schedule sets deadlines related to discovery, expert witnesses, and mediation. If the case goes to trial, the trial date will be set at a scheduling conference on November 16, 2026.
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The schedule articulates the following dates:
September 5, 2025: Deadline for plaintiff to file a motion to amend the Complaint.
March 6, 2026: Deadline for fact discovery, including depositions.
March 20, 2026: Deadline for plaintiff to disclose his expert witnesses.
May 1, 2026: Deadline for defendants to disclose their expert witnesses.
June 1, 2026: Deadline for all parties to disclose rebuttal expert witnesses.
June 30, 2026: Deadline for mediation.
September 4, 2026: Deadline for completing deposition of experts.
October 2, 2026: Deadline for submitting objections to expert testimony and dispositive motions. (A “dispositive motion” is a request to the court to make a ruling about all or part of a case prior to trial. For example, a motion to dismiss would be a kind of dispositive motion.)
October 30, 2026: Deadline for filing motions to exclude certain evidence.
November 16, 2026: Scheduling conference to set a trial date.
In his lawsuit, the plaintiff Doe claims that he was raped on February 5, 2019, by a seminarian for the Diocese of Knoxville. He further claims that the Diocese, under Bishop Richard Stika’s leadership, scuttled the investigation into the alleged rape, and that Bp. Stika defamed him at various times, either by stating that no rape occurred or that Doe was the aggressor.
Bp. Stika resigned the See of Knoxville on June 27, 2023, citing health reasons. However, a Catholic media outlet, The Pillar, reported that Bp. Stika was asked to resign due to leadership failures. Also, one month before Bp. Stika's resignation, I received a communication from then-Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Archbishop Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV), expressing "great concern" about matters in the Diocese of Knoxville. This was a response to my letter to him about Bp. Stika.
As always, I’m grateful to Taylor Williams for her faithful editing.
God bless us everyone,
Jennifer Hay
Knoxville Nobility
865.804.9721
(Replies to Substack emails from Knoxville Nobility come directly to me.)
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Thank you for continuing to keep the laity of the Dioc. Of Knoxville informed of the proceedings in this matter. I know God’s hand is on this situation, and will deliver true justice. 👍✝️
Wow, the leadership of the Church is going to try a slowly grind out and delay justice for John Doe. The dignity of John Doe has been devalued by the leadership of the Church who have been promoting the value of human dignity for those who have illegally entered a sovereign nation.