PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer
Lawyers for the Philadelphia cleric accused of enabling priests to sexually abuse boys have asked the trial judge to step down, saying she compromised her impartiality when she said anyone who doubted there was “widespread” child abuse in the Catholic Church “is living on another planet.”
Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina’s remark during a hearing last week suggested she “harbors a firm predisposed opinion against the Catholic Church and its representatives,” the attorneys for Msgr. William J. Lynn argued in a motion filed Wednesday.
“Perhaps the court actually bears no biases. But that does not matter,” lawyers Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy wrote. “What does matter is that the public’s confidence in the court’s impartiality is demonstrably undermined.”
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