Dallas County Judge Emily Tobolowsky denied the motions to dismiss two Gateway Church elders from the defamation suit over a statement made regarding the allegations against former Senior Pastor Robert Morris after hearing arguments Friday morning.
Morris resigned from his position as senior pastor of Gateway Church following allegations made by Cindy Clemishire that he sexually abused her from 1982 to 1987.
She claimed that Morris, who was a family friend and at the time a 22-year-old traveling pastor, began the abuse when she was 12 years old.
The allegations led many of the church’s elders to resign or take a leave of absence.
Clemishire filed the defamation lawsuit in June 2025 against Gateway, Robert Morris, Deborah Morris, the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association and elders Thomas H. Miller Jr., John D. Willbanks III, Kevin Grove, Jeremy Carrasco, Kenneth W. Fambro II, Gayland Lawshe, Dane Minor, Lawrence Swicegood and Steve Dulin.
Steve Dulin and Kevin Grove’s motions to dismiss claim that they didn’t have any involvement with the alleged defamatory statement made by Gateway Church regarding the allegation against Morris.
The alleged defamatory part of the statement is “inappropriate relationship with a young lady.”
Dulin and Grove claim they did not approve the statement beforehand and weren’t involved in preparing it or publishing it.
Both Dulin and Grove have taken a leave of absence from the church’s elders board after investigators requested that they do so while the internal investigation was conducted. They have not returned to the board.
They claim that, under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, they should be dismissed from the case.
Cindy Clemishire sat in the front row of the gallery with Jeff Leach of Gray Reed next to her.
Before moving forward with the hearing, counsel sought to understand the complexities of the case and the pending appeals before Judge Tobolowsky.
“I’m totally perplexed by the status and what would be fair to all parties,” Judge Tobolowsky said.
Counsel for Dulin and Grove, Charles Kibler of Brown Sims, called it “a procedural dumpster fire.”
Judge Tobolowsky agreed.
So far, three separate appeals are challenging previous rulings denying other motions to dismiss.
Gateway Church, Willbanks, Fambro and Minor appealed in November 2025. The Morrises and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association appealed in December 2025. Carrasco filed his notice of appeal Jan. 13.
They contemplated whether or not the case should be stayed completely or the hearing should move forward. Judge Tobolowsky decided to move forward with the hearing.
Kibler argued that his clients were not involved in the discussions about the alleged defamatory statement released by Gateway Church.
“There is no evidence here that Mr. Grove and Mr. Dulin had any part in the release of this statement,” Kibler said.
Kibler argued that the statement isn’t false.
“I know I was called a young man when I was in my early days. Is that incorrect? Is that untruthful? The parts of the defamation statute, the elements in there require that be an untruthful statement,” Kiber told the judge. “They may not have been what the plaintiff wanted to hear. They wanted to hear the words like rape and statutory rape and those kinds of things, but that doesn’t make the term ‘inappropriate relationship’ untruthful.”
Kibler acknowledged that both Dulin and Grove had known Morris for decades.
“What they knew or didn’t know about his prior history is not truly relevant here, because that’s not part of the elements of defamation,” Kibler said.
Kibler concluded his argument, saying the plaintiffs had failed to meet their burden of showing that the men were involved in the release of the statement and that the statement was false.
Clemishire’s counsel, Drew York of Gray Reed, displayed a PowerPoint presentation where he broke down the definitions for the court.
York cited Merriam-Webster Dictionary that “lady” was defined as an adult female.
“A 12-year-old is not an adult female,” York said.
He also displayed the definition for “inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate is not a synonym for illegal, and nor would any juror think it’s the same,” York said.
York noted that Morris was open in his sermons that he had an extramarital affair.
“The statement was made with the implication that Mr. Morris engaged in an extramarital affair with an adult woman, not that he raped a child,” York said. “The evidence is sufficient here to meet the burden of proof, to show actual malice.”
He then argued that the actual malice standard does not apply because Clemishire was not the one who initiated the public controversy.
York also displayed social media direct messages sent to Clemishire calling her derogatory names and giving examples like “modern day Delilah,” “trash” and “money grabber.”
Kibler responded to remarks by York about there not being affidavits attached to the motion to dismiss. He said they didn’t need to attach evidence because the plaintiff had to provide that proof.
“I don’t have to prove my clients are innocent,” Kibler said. “He has to prove my clients had involvement.”
Kibler argued that his clients were not “removed” from the board following the statement, but rather they took a voluntary leave of absence.
York, in response, presented Dane Minor’s affidavit, who was an elder, which stated, “When Haynes Boone’s investigation showed that certain former leaders had known about Cindy Clemishire’s allegations but failed to report them, disclose them, or otherwise act on them, all individuals involved in that concealment were removed from Gateway Church leadership and employment.”
Kibler’s last words were that the statement in the affidavit did not mention either Dulin or Grove having involvement with the statement that was issued.
“I’m going to deny the motion. Have fun on the second floor,” Judge Tobolowsky said seconds after counsel closed. The Fifth Court of Appeals is on the second floor of the George Allen Court Building in Dallas.
This is the fourth motion to dismiss Judge Tobolowsky has denied.
Kibler, Clemishire and York declined to comment after the hearing.
Richard Hardy, Meghan Mitchell, Joshua Conaway and Jodee Rankin of Fadduol, Cluff, Hardy & Conaway, and S. Alex Yaffe and Eric Cavett of Foshee & Yaffe are representing Cindy Clemishire and Jerry Clemishire.
Michael Williams of Brown Sims is also representing Dulin and Grove.
This case is Cindy Clemishire, et al. v. Gateway Church, et al., DC-25-09684.
Carrasco is represented by Michael J. Kirkland of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons. His case number on appeal is 05-26-00056-CV.
The Morrises are represented by Brandy R. Manning of Condon Tobin Sladek Sparks Nerenberg and Bill Mateja and Jason C. Hoggan of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. Their case number on appeal is 05-25-01689-CV.
Gateway is represented by Ronald W. Breaux, Bradley W. Foster and Christopher R. Knight of Haynes Boone, Wendi L. Hodges and Alison R. Haefner of Middlebrook | Group, and David M. Macdonald and John A. Safarli of Macdonald, Devin, Madden, Kenefick & Harris.
Willbanks, Fambro and Minor are represented by Edwin Buffmire, Marc Fuller and Sarah J. Starr of Jackson Walker. Their case number on appeal is 05-25-01527-CV.
Michelle Casady contributed to this report.