Judge in Priest Beating Case Sends Jury Home for the Week without Explanation

By Tracey Kaplan
Oakland Tribune
June 21, 2012

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_20908662/judge-priest-beating-case-sends-jury-home-week

The judge in the San Jose priest-beating trial abruptly sent the jury home Thursday morning, just as the victim -- Father Jerold Lindner -- was about to be cross-examined over whether or not he really is a child molester.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David A. Cena offered no explanation and ordered the lawyers not to discuss the delay in the assault trial of Will Lynch, who claims the priest molested him and his little brother on a camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains 35 years ago. Lynch has pleaded not guilty to punching and kicking the priest at a Jesuit retirement center in Los Gatos two years ago.

But legal experts say the case probably ground to a halt because Lynch's defense attorneys are seeking a mistrial -- motions that are relatively common in trial.

What's unusual in this case, though, are its ostensible grounds: that the priest who is the prosecution's star witness allegedly committed perjury by testifying Wednesday he had never molested the Lynch brothers, just as the prosecutor had warned the jury he was likely to do.

"If I was the defense attorney, I'd be yelling and screaming and asking for remedies all the way up to dismissal of the case," said defense attorney Charles J. Smith, a former prosecutor.

Cena sent the jury home until 10 a.m. Monday and ordered the lawyers back in court at 1:30 p.m. Friday, when he'll presumably review the defense's motion to have the case tossed out as well as the

prosecution's arguments for continuing.

To some legal analysts, the latest developments prove the case is a quagmire that is bound to sink on the priest's character and credibility.

"It really brings up the issue, why was this case prosecuted in the first place, and how do you prove it if the victim is a liar and a criminal?" said well-known clergy sex abuse lawyer John Manly.

He said Lynch's lawyers may be able to prove the priest lied.

"I've had hundreds of cases against the Jesuits, and I promise you there are psychological records and more victims," Manly said. "The idea that this might be a he-said, she-said is not true. If the Jesuits paid out, there was plenty of evidence."

But it is not at all clear the defense will prevail. To meet the legal standard for perjury, defense attorneys Pat Harris and Paul Mones would not only have to prove that Lindner lied, but also that the lies were material to the case. To bolster their case, they may try to use prosecutor Vicki Gemetti's own assertion that Lindner molested the brothers.

Even if the judge declares a mistrial, the District Attorney's Office could refile the case and try to win a second trial without the priest's eyewitness account of being beaten up on May 10, 2010, at the Sacred Heart retirement community, which lists Lindner as a child molester.

The two Sacred Heart employees who caught glimpses of the beating can't identify Lynch unequivocally as the attacker, but prosecutors may try to use an exclusive interview Lynch gave this newspaper about the trial to try to incriminate him.

Gemetti wouldn't comment Friday, but she has said of the case, "Our laws exist to protect all members of society, regardless of who the victim is."

Even though the Jesuits have doled out millions of dollars to settle cases brought by Lindner's victims -- including the Lynch brothers -- the priest was never prosecuted because Lynch and others reported the abuse after the brief window of opportunity set by the statute of limitations ended.

Lynch, now 44, is charged with two felonies that together carry a maximum sentence of four years -- assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. Lindner was 65 when he was attacked. Lynch was 7 when Lindner purportedly sexually attacked him. Without acknowledging wrongdoing, the Jesuits paid Lynch and his brother about $187,000 apiece after legal fees to settle a lawsuit they filed claiming Lindner had raped Lynch and made him have oral sex with his brother.

Lynch chose to go to trial in the beating case rather than negotiate a plea deal for no more than a year in county jail so he could "out" Lindner.

The delay wasn't the only drama in the case on Thursday.

While the audience in the packed courtroom waited an hour for the trial to resume this morning, a commotion took place just outside the doors. Lindner was apparently being brought in through the hallway past one of his purported victims, Deb Lukas, who saw him and lost it.

The Jesuits paid Lukas more than $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit she filed claiming the priest molested her in the 1970s from age 7 to 12 on the same camping trips the Lynches and a big group of other families went on.

When Lukas saw her purported rapist, a witness said she blurted in a loud voice, "Look me in the eye," then added something in a voice loud enough to be heard in the courtroom about having a right to face him.

That prompted the bailiff to run out and bar Lukas from entering the courtroom. Lukas happened to be with Lynch's sister, who didn't say anything, but was also barred from entering, upsetting many of Lynch's supporters.

Shortly afterward, Cena came out of chambers where he'd been meeting with the lawyers for more than an hour and sternly warned the audience that he understands emotions are running high, but he will not tolerate "any sort of disturbance." Anyone who disrupts the trial or interferes with any participants will not be allowed back in the courtroom.

The Lynch case is remarkable because it's extraordinarily rare for suspected victims of child abuse to lash out violently at the person they say molested them.

But now, the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey reports that a man has been arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing an ex-Boy Scout leader he claims molested him decades ago. Dennis Pegg, 68, was found dead in his Stillwater, N.J., home June 13. He was stabbed 20 times and his throat was slit.

However, it does not appear to be a copycat case since the stabbing occurred a week before there was any publicity about the Lynch trial.

Instead, New Jersey cops are looking into whether the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse trial may have spurred the man to act.

Contact: tkaplan@mercurynews.com