SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican
By Buffy Spencer, The Republican
SPRINGFIELD — Jury selection will continue Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court in a civil lawsuit brought by a Williamstown man who claims two former bishops should be held accountable for his childhood abuse by a priest.
The trial is being held before Judge Constance M. Sweeney, who began Monday morning by asking prospective jurors filling the large courtroom a series of questions, which she followed by individual juror questioning at the side of her bench with lawyers for both sides.
Lawyers for the Most Rev. Joseph F. Maguire and the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre had unsuccessfully tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds the three-year statute of limitations had expired by the time the suit was filed.
Jury selection was slow going as 59 people raised their hands when Sweeney asked if anyone had any personal or business reason they could not serve as a juror on the trial, which could take nine days or longer.
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