William Casey's Post-conviction Relief Attempt to Continue in Feb.

By Ken Little
Greeneville Sun
November 6, 2015

http://www.greenevillesun.com/news/local_news/william-casey-s-post-conviction-relief-attempt-to-continue-in/article_9248f9b0-e874-524c-b74a-d4c8968a1851.html

William Casey

A post-conviction hearing initially scheduled last week in Sullivan County Criminal Court for former Catholic priest and Greene County resident William Casey will now be held on Feb. 3.

A hearing relating to the case was held on Oct. 30. Judge James F. Goodwin denied a motion by Casey's lawyer, Francis X. Santore Jr., to recuse prosecutor Barry Staubus and his office from the case.

Goodwin had earlier denied a motion by Santore to have himself recused from the case as judge. Santore appealed to the state Court of Criminal Appeals, which also denied the motion and remanded the case back to Goodwin's court.

Staubus is district attorney general for the 2nd Judicial District that includes Sullivan County. He was lead prosecutor in July 2011, when Casey's jury trial was held.

The trial judge, Robert H. Montgomery Jr., became a state Court of Criminal Appeals judge in 2014.

Casey was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated rape. He was sentenced by Montgomery after conviction to a minimum of 35 years in prison.

The charges stemmed from conduct that occurred in 1979 and 1980, while victim Warren Tucker attended a Kingsport school associated with the church.

Casey, now 81, was a longtime resident of the Camp Creek community in Greene County.

Since sentencing in October 2011, Casey has been an inmate at the Tennessee Department of Correction's Northeast Correctional Facility in Mountain City. He will not be eligible for parole until at least 2026, when he is 92.

At the time of the sexual abuse of Tucker, Casey was serving as priest at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Kingsport, where he was pastor from 1976 through 1987.

He previously served between 1972 and 1976 as the priest at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Greeneville. There have been no allegations of abuse relating to his pastorate here.

Casey was formally removed from the priesthood in February 2013.

In 2014, the state Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the judgment and verdict of the trial court. A petition for a new trial for Casey was denied in June 2014 by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

State law provides that Casey had one year from the date of the state Supreme Court ruling to file a petition for post-conviction relief.

Santore, of Greeneville, was retained earlier this year by Casey's family to secure a new trial.

Casey was represented at trial by Kingsport criminal defense lawyer Richard Spivey and his son, Matt Spivey. One element of the petition for post-conviction relief fashioned by Santore is an allegation of ineffectiveness of previous counsel.

Santore said in the petition that he respects the abilities of the Spiveys, Montgomery and Staubus and has no "axe to grind," but doesn't believe Casey could get a fair trial in East Tennessee because of the widespread publicity the case attracted.

A key argument in the earlier appeals filed by the Spiveys was that any crimes committed against victim Warren Tucker did not come to light until after what Richard Spivey called a 32-year "pre-accusatorial" delay, which he said constituted a violation of Casey's due process rights.

Tucker, now 50 and living in out of state, first disclosed the abuse to law enforcement in September 2009.

In the petition, Santore questions the time frame of the actions alleged by Tucker in relation to the statute of limitations that applies to the crimes.

Casey was tried on the rape and molestation charges based on laws that were in effect between 1978 and 1980, when the victim said the abuse occurred.

Santore said earlier this year he identified a new witness whose testimony would call into question when and whether Tucker actually served as an altar boy at the Kingsport church where the molestation occurred.

That testimony could affect the time frame of the allegations and the statute of limitations relating to the charges against his client, Santore said.

Issues raised in the petition include:

* alleged violation of due process and equal protection issues, other than those raised at trial and in earlier appeals;

* alleged prosecutorial misconduct; and

* alleged ineffective assistance provided by trial counsel and appellate counsel.

"All the errors are cumulative enough that it would warrant a new trial," Santore states.

Tucker made his allegations about Casey public in 2010 after contacting members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Members of SNAP were by Tucker's side throughout the 2011 trial.