Judge refuses to dismiss Virgin Mary visionary's suit

CONYERS - A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by a woman seeking to gain control of $3 million in assets from donations by people who flocked to hear of her Virgin Mary visions in the 1990s. <br> <br> Nancy Fowler filed the suit in 1999 against Our Loving Mother&#39;s Children, a nonprofit group she helped form to collect from the thousands who came to Fowler&#39;s Rockdale County farm to hear messages she said she received. <br> <br> Superior Court Judge Sidney Nation agreed Thursday to consider the evidence and hear more arguments next month, but he indicated he is skeptical about the case. <br> <br> ``I wish I could have a vision so I wouldn&#39;t have this mess in my courtroom,&#39;&#39; Nation said. He has urged the parties to compromise. <br> <br> Last year, the judge ordered an audit of OLMC&#39;s assets, including money and land purchased with the donations. But both sides agreed to a confidentiality clause that kept the records from going public. <br> <br> Earlier this year, Nation said he was going to dismiss the case because Fowler said she could not pay any more money toward the ongoing audit. <br> <br> OLMC has paid $70,000, while Fowler offered $15,000. Nation said Fowler must pay an additional $15,000 for the audit to continue. <br> <br> ``She needs to get serious about her lawsuit,&#39;&#39; the judge told Fowler&#39;s attorney, Elizabeth Kertscher. ``If you want to be in this court and litigate over millions of dollars, you need to get this money together for an audit.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Nation called for a hearing next month to decide whether Fowler could scrape together the money for the audit. He warned Kertscher that her client&#39;s finances would then be open to public scrutiny. <br> <br> Kertscher said Fowler doesn&#39;t have enough money to pay for the audit. Fowler says she cannot work because of severe arthritis and survives on $1,000 monthly alimony payments from her ex-husband. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t think she wants everyone to know how much she spends on laundry and groceries every week. That&#39;s not what this case is about,&#39;&#39; Kertscher said.