A Louisiana woman was convicted on Monday in a case where a confession she told her pastor was used as evidence in court.
Peggy Valentine was found guilty of home invasion and attempted first-degree murder for the May 2022 incident, WAFB reported. Her sentencing is set for February 2024.
Prosecutors argued that Valentine, 44, broke into the Ascension Parish home of her fiancé’s girlfriend’s house and attacked her with a box cutter while she was sleeping. The woman survived the ordeal and went to a hospital for medical treatment.
However, her attorney, David Belfield III, painted a different picture of what happened. Belfield told WAFB that Valentine went there to smooth out differences with the woman who had a baby with her partner, adding that she did not invade the property.
“When she found out about the baby, she went to the house with a relative and brought the baby some clothing,” Belfield said, per the news station. “In her mind, they’re still trying to work the relationship out.”
After the incident, Valentine contacted her pastor, who also worked for the local sheriff’s office, WAFB reported. He instructed her to speak to investigators, which she did at the sheriff’s office, but at some point, she stopped the interview and demanded to talk to the pastor. And she did while there was another deputy in the room.
According to the report, Valentine said she went to the home trying to see if her fiancé was with the woman. The confession was used against her in court, a move Belfield disagreed with, citing pastor privilege and that she was “seeking spiritual guidance.”
The judge allowed the jury to hear her conversation with the pastor multiple times.
“Are you working as a pastor or a deputy? He never once told her, ‘Peggy, you have to be careful in what you say because I’m working as a police officer. What you say will be used against you,’” Belfield told the outlet. “You wouldn’t sit in the room while she was talking to her lawyer, then why would you sit in the room talking to her pastor?”
Per the report, he added: “On first-degree murder, you have to prove specific intent. She went over there to check if her man was there. There was no specific intent to murder. If you can’t trust your pastor in this day and age, who can you trust?”
Read the original story here.
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