By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
December 16, 2011
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/nun_defendant_in_chatham_pries.html
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| Jose Felicano defendant; testifies in his own trial for the murder of Father Edward Hines of St. Patrick Church in Chatham, during his trial in Morristown. 11/28/11 Photo Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger |
A nun who counseled murder defendant Jose Feliciano "40 or 50 times" in 2004 and 2005 says he was "troubled" by his gang activities as a young man, but never said he had been sexually abused by a priest when he was a boy in Brooklyn.
Taking the witness stand during the final day of testimony in Feliciano’s murder trial, Sister Catherine Morrisett contradicted the former church custodian’s claim that he had told her he was molested by a priest when he was 9.
Feliciano, 66, of Easton, Pa., testified earlier that he was sexually abused as an adult by his stabbing victim, the Rev. Edward Hinds of St. Patrick Church in Chatham, but said he didn’t tell Morrisett.
Feliciano has admitted the Oct. 22, 2009, killing, but says he was provoked when Hinds fired him after extorting him into sex acts for more than four years in exchange for keeping quiet about three unresolved criminal charges, which included indecent assault on a child. The jury has been told only that the charges involved a minor. Feliciano contends it was manslaughter, not murder.
Appearing as a rebuttal witness for the prosecution, Morrisett, a pastoral psychotherapist at Grace Counseling Center in Madison, testified that some of the counseling sessions were with Feliciano individually, and others were with him and his wife.
"He had issues from the past that were very troubling" and were keeping him awake at night, she said.
As a gang member in New York City when he was a young man, "he witnessed some very powerful things," Morrisett said. "One particular incident" that he was involved in proved especially haunting, she testified.
However, she said, Feliciano "never stated he was abused by a priest" and expressed "tremendous respect and appreciation" for Hinds and two other priests who preceded him at St. Patrick during Feliciano’s 18 years as a custodian there.
Feliciano told her the priests "welcomed" him and his family into their community even though the custodian perceived that his "socioeconomic status" was lower than most parishioners at the Chatham church, Morrisett said.
The nun also appeared to contradict Feliciano’s claim that Hinds told him and his family to move out of a house they were renting on the grounds of St. Patrick’s after the janitor told the priest of the criminal charges filed against him in 2004.
"The parish wanted to sell that house," Morrisett said, adding that Feliciano and his family were excited about moving to their own home in Easton. "It was the American Dream for them," she testified.
Under cross-examination from Feliciano’s public defender, Neill Hamilton, Morrisett acknowledged she has no records of the counseling sessions with Feliciano because they were destroyed in a flood in 2007.
She also said she sees "up to 20" people a week and has probably counseled as many as 500 people since she last saw Feliciano, but maintained she has a clear memory of the sessions.
Also testifying Thursday was Maris Barrett, a former pastoral associate at St. Patrick, who recalled going for fingerprinting with Feliciano in late 2003 to comply with a nationwide Catholic Church program requiring criminal background checks of all church employees who had contact with children.
But Barrett contradicted Feliciano’s claim she and Hinds had agreed not to return Feliciano’s fingerprint card to State Police after he told them it would reveal a "problem" from his past.
Barrett testified she was "never" told Feliciano had criminal problems and said she "never" had a three-way meeting with Feliciano and Hinds.
Attorneys are scheduled to present closing arguments on Monday.
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