PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial
By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net
Around 1:30 p.m., the jury in the Father Andrew McCormick sex abuse case sent a note to the judge saying they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright told the jury to give it one more try, but nothing changed. Shortly after 4 p.m., the judge dismissed the jury after four and a half days of fruitless deliberations.
The day began with the court stenographer reading back more than an hour of testimony from the alleged victim. Meanwhile, the alleged victim sat in the second row of the courtroom, listening to his description of the alleged attack by “Father Andy.” Soon, the alleged victim and his mother were sobbing and bowing their heads, while they went through a box of tissues.
No juror, however, was seen glancing their way. The judge followed the reading of the testimony by re-reading her instructions to the jury about how to deal with the victim’s testimony. If you believe his testimony, the judge had instructed the jury, that alone was sufficient evidence to convict the priest.
Apparently, at least one juror didn’t believe the victim. The jury told the judge they did not want to talk to the lawyers in the case, and they left without speaking to reporters. Judge Bright asked Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp if the district attorney’s office wanted to retry the case.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Kemp said. The judge promptly issued a new trial date of April 28.
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