PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The notes trickled out, a few each day, from the jury room behind Courtroom 304.
Define attempted rape. Explain endangerment and pedophilia. Send in the files, a marker board, and easel.
Trying to interpret the signals during deliberations in the landmark child sex-abuse trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests may be a fool’s errand, experts say. What was clear after one week was that the Common Pleas Court jury was immersed in its task.
“This is a jury that’s been asking a lot of questions, which means that they are engaged,” said Edward D. Ohlbaum, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
The seven men and five women met for nearly 25 hours over five days to consider the charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. They sent more than a dozen questions and requests to Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina in their first four days, seeking guidance on the law or pieces of evidence.
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