CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
In another bizarre legal twist, the judge in the San Jose priest-beating case Monday threw out the testimony of the Jesuit after he invoked his right against self-incrimination and refused to answer more questions in the trial of a man charged with assaulting him.
Judge David A. Cena said he will instruct the Santa Clara County jury to ignore the Rev. Jerold Lindner’s 40-minute testimony last week, including his insistence that he did not sexually molest his suspected attacker, Will Lynch, 35 years ago when Lynch was 7 years old.
The ruling deprives the prosecution of its star witness, making the assault case against Lynch potentially more difficult to prove.
But it also could hurt Lynch, whose attorneys immediately called for a mistrial, saying it was unfair to proceed with the case because they will not have the opportunity to cross-examine Lindner. They said the jury heard half the story and could be left with a lingering impression of the May 10, 2010, attack at the Sacred Heart retirement center in Los Gatos, which the elderly priest described as “vicious” and painful.
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