SAN JOSE (CA)
San Jose Inside
Posted by Christopher Schumb on Thursday, June 28, 2012
San Jose attorney Christopher Schumb will write a bi-weekly column for San Jose Inside focusing on the biggest cases and legal disputes in Santa Clara County. This is his first column.—Editor
If you have seen all the media vans parked in front of the Criminal Courthouse on Hedding Street, it’s not for a location shoot of Law and Order. The media is there for the courtroom drama unfolding in the trial of William Lynch. Mr. Lynch alleges that he was a victim of horrific child abuse by a Catholic priest, Father Jerold Lindner, in 1975.
Mr. Lynch settled a civil suit he filed against Father Lindner and the church over a decade ago. In 2010, Mr. Lynch allegedly went to Father Lindner’s retirement home, and attacked the 67-year-old retired priest. From the outset, it was clear that Mr. Lynch’s agenda was to publicize the alleged abuse he, his brother and several other boys allegedly suffered at the hands of Father Lindner.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed felony assault and elder abuse charges against Mr. Lynch. The trial has not gone smoothly. Before the trial began, Judge David Cena ruled that allegations of child abuse would be admissible to attack Father Lindner’s credibility. However, the scope of his exam on this issue must be brief so as not to consume an undue amount of time, because it was a peripheral issue. Deputy District Attorney Vickie Gemetti, who is very well respected by criminal attorneys—both prosecutors and defense—made a tactical decision to defuse the abuse allegations by playing, as part of her opening statement, a tape recording of an interview in which Lynch detailed the alleged sexual abuse. The jury was in tears after hearing the tape, and the defense attorneys asked that Judge Cena modify his previous ruling limiting the scope of the questioning about the alleged sexual abuse because Ms. Gemetti had “opened the door” by playing the tape. Judge Cena agreed, and the defense was then allowed to extensively cross-exam Father Lindner about the abuse allegations.
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