Clergy Sex Abuse Mediation Set for September
By Kevin Kerrigan
The attorney for the Archdiocese of Agana said Tuesday in the District Court of Guam he would begin taking sworn statements from the plaintiffs today. He hopes settlement offers will be ready for mediation in the clergy sex abuse cases by September, three months later than previously expected. At the status hearing yesterday, attorney Michael Patterson said he will begin taking sworn statements from 161 alleged victims, 151 of whom have filed sexual abuse lawsuits in either the District Court or the Superior Court of Guam. Ten alleged victims have declined to file lawsuits, Patterson said, but he said they will be included in the final mediated settlement offers. Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo has 53 of the cases and Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood has 108. The two judges sat side by side on the bench Tuesday, presiding over this unusual joint hearing at the District Court. Fifteen attorneys representing all the plaintiffs were either in the courtroom or on the phone for the hearing. The defendants include the archdiocese, former Archbishop Anthony Apuron and other former members of Guam's Catholic clergy, as well as the Sisters of Mercy and the Chamorro District Council of the Boy Scouts. Statements from Apuron's attorney Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, the attorney for Apuron, said at Tuesday's hearing the court should bar any mention of the Vatican tribunal's verdict, which was made public last week. "My client was acquitted of the majority of charges against him. I don't know how many there were," she said. Terlaje said it was "important" that the parties don't have all the information because the Vatican's penalty – being exiled from the Archdiocese of Agana and stripping Apuron of his title – "does not comport, match the crimes that are alleged, at least in this particular case." She was referring to the Vatican news release Friday, which announced that Apuron had been found "guilty of certain of the accusations." Terlaje said the sexual abuse complaints were among a number of different complaints made to the Vatican tribunal, but "no one can tell us whether he was convicted of sex abuse of minors" or whether he was convicted of something else. "They never tell us what he was convicted of," said Terlaje, and "that information should not be used for any purpose in these proceedings." Terlaje added that Apuron has agreed, "in good faith," to participate in the mediation process. "All that is pending is whether or not we're agreeable to the mediation protocol." Learning about individual claims Following the status hearing, Patterson said the purpose of taking sworn statements from the plaintiffs is to seek background information from each, beyond the complaints they have already filed. The aim, he said, is to learn more about their individual claims in order to prepare for the mediation process. The final mediated settlement offers are tentatively scheduled to be presented to the plaintiffs on Sept. 17, 18 and 19, Patterson said. The mediator in the case, Tony Piazza, "has indicated that he believes three days will be sufficient to conclude the process." No final agreement on the mediation protocols was reached in court yesterday. Those protocols will guide the mediation process going forward, and thus avoid lengthy and separate trials. However, when questioned by the judges, almost all the attorneys said they had either signed the protocol agreement or likely will soon. 11 clients won't budge Attorney Anthony Perez, however, said his 11 clients have not agreed to the mediation process. "Our position has not changed," he told the court. Perez has argued against one settlement amount, which would leave individual plaintiffs to fight for their individual share. Patterson said he is still "optimistic" he could work out the objections Perez's clients have. Perez, however, said his clients won't budge and he asked for the current stay on motions to be lifted so his clients may pursue their bids for separate settlements. Attorney Pat Civille, who represents the Chamorro District Council of the Boy Scouts, countered that lifting the stay "would greatly complicate" the mediation process going forward, resulting in a situation where "the tail was wagging the dog." Afterward, Patterson explained that lifting the stay on motions "would require the people who are going to mediation to participate" in discovery or other motions filed by the plaintiffs, and thus jeopardize the mediation process. Judge Bordallo advised Perez to file a motion to lift the stay and said he would schedule a hearing later.
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