Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against Mormon Church Use of Donations

Salt Lake City — A judge tossed out a lawsuit filed by James Huntsman, a member of one of Utah’s most prominent families and brother of a former governor, against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a ruling issued Tuesday.

Huntsman had accused the Utah-based faith known widely as the Mormon church of fraud and sought to recover millions of dollars in contributions, saying the church spent donations solicited for charity on commercial purposes. Judge Stephen Wilson rejected Huntsman's claims and said that no reasonable juror would believe that Latter-day Saint leaders made false statements about how tithing funds would be used.