Vt Supco Makes Ruling in Separate Priest Abuse Case, WCAX, October 9, 2009

Vt. Supco Makes Ruling in Separate Priest Abuse Case

WCAX
October 9, 2009

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11287944

[the court's decison]

Judge Ben Joseph

The Vermont Supreme Court today overturned a jury's verdict and ordered a new trial in a priest abuse case held last year.

The plaintiff claimed he was 13-years-old when he was sexually abused by former Vermont Priest Alfred Willis in the 1970s. The jury awarded the plaintiff $15,000 in damages.

But The Vermont Supreme Court today threw out the award, and ordered a new trial saying the judge failed to let the jury decide if the plaintiff waited too many years to file the lawsuit.

James Turner

Jerry O'Neill also represented the plaintiff. He says its unlikely the ruling will impact jury verdicts in other priest abuse trials.

"Each case is different. So the statute of limitations will need to go to the jury each time through. And so consequently then each one of those then will have to be placed in front of a jury because they are factually different," said Turner's lawyer Jerry O'Neil.

Two other jury verdicts are on appeal, awaiting rulings from the Supreme Court in priest abuse cases. One for nearly $4 million dollars and the other for nearly $8t million dollars.

In each case the Diocese claims judges improperly denied the jury the chance to consider the statute of limitations.

Alfred Willis