Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III stuck with his not guilty plea Monday morning.
Weeks appeared in Fulton County Superior Court for the last hearing — and last chance to change his plea — before his March 11 trial.
Weeks’ estranged wife national evangelist Juanita Bynum, 49, has accused him of beating, choking and stomping her to the ground at an Atlanta hotel parking lot on Aug. 21.
On Monday, Weeks sat quietly with his assistant jotting down words in a datebook as he waited for the judge. He was clad in a gray suit with a burgundy, pink and gray bow tie. His assistant was by his side.
Weeks’ attorney, John Garland, assured him that the hearing was only routine.
“Nothing has changed,” Garland said to his client.
After a short conversation with court officials, Garland and Weeks left the courtroom without speaking directly to the judge. Garland later said that Weeks did not have to attend the hearing, but they decided to be there as a cautionary measure.
Weeks, 40, came prepared with documents that allegedly show that his wife has tried to communicate with him last month at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead despite the restraining order that prevents contact between the couple.
Weeks said earlier he wanted the trial to move forward so the facts of the case could be revealed. Weeks has been charged with felony aggravated assault, terroristic threats and simple battery in connection with the incident.
“When the people hear the facts at trial they will have a totally different perspective of what happened,” Weeks, an author and leader of an international ministry, has said.
Following the hearing, Weeks was scheduled to attend a domestic violence prevention workshop co-sponsored by Weeks’ Global Destiny Church and the Foundation for Men Awareness’ FBN Wholeness Campaign. But the event was canceled.
Officials at the Atlanta Public Library’s central branch, said foundation leaders canceled the conference because of an expected “low attendance.”