PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial
By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net
The state Superior Court has reversed the conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn, saying he never should have been charged in the first place with the crime of endangering the welfare of a child.
But whether Lynn gets out of jail now is up to Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, the trial court judge who put Lynn away, and whose prior rulings in the case have been described by a panel of three Superior Court judges as “fundamentally flawed.”
At 10 a.m. Monday, Judge Sarmina will convene a bail hearing to determine whether Msgr. Lynn gets out of jail. The hearing will be held in Courtroom 507 of the Criminal Justice Center. Several members of District Attorney Seth Williams’ office are expected to attend, and argue that the monsignor deserves to stay in jail while the D.A. appeals the Superior Court opinion.
For Msgr. Lynn’s lawyer, Thomas A. Bergstrom, this doesn’t make much sense.
“The Superior Court has said he [Lynn] should be discharged forthwith, so I don’t think that requires any interpretation,” Bergstrom said. “Seems to me she [Judge Sarmina] has to do exactly what they’ve ordered,” Bergstrom said, referring to the panel of three Superior Court judges who reversed Lynn’s conviction.
In the past, however, Judge Sarmina, has not exactly been partial, or merciful, when it comes to Msgr. Lynn.
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