APPLETON (WI)
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Written by
Jim Collar
Gannett Wisconsin Media
APPLETON — The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay gets another day in court.
A judge on Wednesday granted a new trial to the diocese out of concern that a juror’s potential bias against the church compromised the civil lawsuit won in May by two childhood victims of clergy sexual assault.
Outagamie Judge Nancy Krueger made the ruling in a 12-page written decision that erased a $700,000 jury verdict awarded to brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield. Jurors deliberated for about five hours before returning the verdict in the Merryfields’ favor.
The brothers filed the civil fraud case in 2008. They claimed the diocese knew the Rev. John Feeney had a history of sexual misconduct when it installed him as a priest at Freedom’s St. Nicholas Church and falsely portrayed him as safe even though church officials knew he was a danger to children.
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