PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net
In a sunlight-drenched courtroom this morning, a couple of state appellate judges asked the Philadelphia district attorney’s office to explain the pretzel logic of its suspect prosecution of Msgr. William J. Lynn.
After four years of hiding behind secret grand juries and gag orders, the D.A. finally had to answer some tough questions in broad daylight. Seth Williams wasn’t there, but his top appellate lawyer was. He responded with a litany of legal citations. But when the judges attempted to pin him down, the bottom line was, the D.A.’s office has no real answers. It’s hard to explain the illogical and the politically expedient.
Msgr. Lynn is now serving a 3 to 6 year prison term for his June 22, 2012 conviction on one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Could the appellate judges be contemplating a ruling that might free the defendant? There was a moment today during the intense 40-minute hearing that quickened the pulse of every defense lawyer in the packed courtroom.
It came when John T. Bender, the president judge of the 15-member appellate court, asked defense lawyer Thomas A. Bergstrom how long his client had been in jail. It was a question that seemingly came out of nowhere. The answer was 15 months. But it left defense lawyers wondering whether the appellate court was sending a signal that it would entertain a new bail motion to be filed on behalf of Msgr. Lynn.
“I don’t know what to do; I don’t want to be precipitous,” a smiling Bergstrom told reporters after the hearing. Bergstrom said he would wait until the court issues a ruling on the Lynn appeal. And if that ruling favors his client, Bergstrom said, he’ll be filing that bail motion about “five minutes later.”
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