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  First Northern California Church Abuse Cases Set for Trial Monday

By Kim Curtis
Associated Press, carried in Contra Costa Times [San Francisco CA]
March 6, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Cases alleging negligence at two northern California Roman Catholic dioceses are scheduled to go to trial Monday, making them the first of about 150 civil suits filed by alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests since the statute of limitations was temporarily lifted in 2002.

The trials involving the San Francisco and Oakland dioceses are scheduled to begin Monday in Alameda County Superior Court before two separate judges. But the Oakland case may be delayed after a judge ordered a settlement conference for Monday.

"The bishop is hoping mediation works," said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, spokesman for the diocese.

The case set for trial against the Oakland diocese was filed by a 34-year-old former altar boy, who now lives in Arizona. The man claims he was abused by former priest Robert Ponciroli at St. Ignatius Church in Antioch. Ponciroli, 68, now lives in Florida and is not a defendant in the case.

A second claimant in that same case is the man's brother, according to Stephen McFeely, a lawyer for the diocese.

The case against the San Francisco diocese was filed by a man who alleges abuse by the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard while the man was a student at St. Martin of Tours Church in San Jose. The man, now in his mid-40s, has said the abuse took place in 1972 and 1973.

Pritchard, who died of cancer in 1998 before the allegations became known, was the son of a former Santa Clara mayor. Pritchard was pastor at St. Martin from 1972 to 1979, before he was transferred to St. Nicholas Parish in Los Altos.

Trials for four additional claimants against Pritchard will follow.

More than 850 alleged victims are suing dioceses throughout the state, with millions of dollars in potential settlements at stake. The scope is so vast that the lawsuits have been lumped geographically into three consolidated cases, known simply as Clergy I, Clergy II and Clergy III, which are the Northern California cases.

A 2002 state law temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for filing molestation lawsuits, opening the door for hundreds of claims. In July, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw, who is handling Clergy III, upheld the constitutionality of that law and allowed all but a handful of the Northern California cases to proceed.

Dozens of lawyers have been participating in settlement talks for the past two weeks. Everyone involved in the negotiations is prevented by law from talking about specifics.

"Trials are scheduled, we're talking," said Paul Gaspari, lawyer for the San Francisco diocese. "It's a very fluid situation."

In December, alleged victims agreed to a record $100 million settlement with the Diocese of Orange County, resolving 90 lawsuits that included allegations against 31 priests, 10 lay personnel, one religious brother and two nuns.

In 2002, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay $85 million to 552 plaintiffs.

 
 

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