PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10
By Dan Stamm and Maryclaire Dale
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012
The jury was back to work Thursday, after a day off from deliberations, as they deliberated the fates of two priests accused in a landmark case but while jurors deliberated the lawyer for a priest accused of sexually abusing a boy argued for a mistrial.
James Brennan’s lawyer, William Brennan, who has no relation to his client, argued Thursday morning for a mistrial since Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina allowed jurors to hear the priest’s accuser’s testimony from a 2008 church trial during deliberations Tuesday even though the evidence wasn’t entered during the current trial.
The judge shot down Brennan’s request and further requests by the jury to hear even more testimony saying that the jury needs to use their own recollections while deliberation the case against James Brennan, 48, and Monsignor William Lynn, 61, who served as secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.
Lynn, 61, is the first U.S. church official to be charged for his handling of clergy abuse complaints.
As of 10:45 a.m. Thursday, the jury continued Day 8 of deliberations without final decisions.
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