Closing Arguments in the Archdiocese Sex Abuse Case Quote Shakespeare, Martin Luther King, and a Love Letter from a Pedophile Priest

By Ralph Cipriano
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog
June 1, 2012

http://www.priestabusetrial.com/

A defense lawyer quoted Shakespeare and Twelve Angry Men as he talked to the jury about reasonable doubt. A prosecutor read a pornographic love note that a priest had written to a seventh-grader, and then he showed jurors a smiling, baby-faced photo of a 10-year-old altar boy before he was raped.

It was time for closing arguments Thursday in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse case, with lawyers from both sides looking to score last-minute points as they closed out 10 weeks of testimony. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina is expected to charge the jury Friday morning, and then it will be time for deliberations.

Thomas Bergstrom, a defense lawyer for Msgr. William J. Lynn, was the leadoff speaker. He's a former judge advocate officer for the U.S. Marines who looks like a graying version of Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, as played by Gregory Peck.

The concept of reasonable doubt "is an enormous safeguard in our system of justice," Bergstrom told the jury. He defined reasonable doubt as "that kind of doubt that causes you to hesitate. If you hesitate, then you have a reasonable doubt." Bergstrom was hoping for lots of hesitation from the non-Catholic, largely minority jury of seven men and five women who will decide the fate of Msgr. Lynn, and his co-defendant, Father James J. Brennan.