SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury News
By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.commercurynews.com
Posted: 07/05/2012
A jury today acquitted a San Francisco man of felony charges that he beat up and abused the cleric he says brutally raped him decades ago.
The jury found Will Lynch not guilty of felony elder abuse and felony assault for a confrontation with Rev. Jerold Lindner two years ago. It also found Lynch not guilty of misdemeanor elder abuse, but deadlocked 8-4 in favor of a conviction on misdemeanor assault.
The verdict was a triumph for Lynch, now 44, and his supporters, who faithfully picketed outside and packed the Santa Clara County courtroom as the assault trial — normally a brief event — stretched over three weeks. From accusations of prosecutorial misconduct to a confrontation in the hallway between the priest and one of his alleged molestation victims, the trial was roiled by disruptions.
“I was wrong for doing what I did — in doing that I perpetuated the cycle of violence,” Lynch said outside the courtroom, referring to the two blows to the head he delivered to Lindner at the Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos. “But if there is anything I want people to take away from this — it is you can come forward, you can seek justice and you can find justice in many forms.”
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said he was “disappointed” by the verdict. He said he’ll carefully evaluate whether to retry Lynch on the misdemeanor assault charge.
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