Retrial set for March for priest who had hung jury

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A Philadelphia judge this morning set March 6 for the retrial of Rev. James J. Brennan, the Roman Catholic priest charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

Common Pleas Court Judge Robert P. Coleman met briefly with Assistant District Attorneys Patrick Blessington and Mark Cipolletti and Brennan and defense lawyers William J. Brennan Jr. and Richard J. Fuschino Jr. before setting the trial date.

Coleman also set March 4 for a pretrial conference.

Father Brennan, 49, was tried earlier this year with Msgr. William J. Lynn, 61, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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