CONNECTICUT
Hartford Courant
By Dave Altimari
The Archdiocese of Hartford is seeking to have the state Supreme Court overturn a $1 million verdict in a priest sex abuse case while at the same time reversing a state law that extended the amount of time accusers can file a lawsuit against it.
In Feb. 2012 a jury in Waterbury awarded a former altar boy $1 million following a trial in which the victim, identified as Jacob Doe in court papers, testified that he and another friend were repeatedly molested and sexually assaulted by the Rev. Ivan Ferguson and a friend of the priest.
The diocese is asking the Supreme Court to overturn that verdict based on a variety of claims – including that the trial judge erred by not allowing an expert witnesses to testify for the church and by allowing testimony from a deposition of Ferguson to be heard by the jury.
But the most controversial argument is the claim that a state law last updated in 2002 that bumped the statute of limitations when a victim of sexual abuse could file lawsuit to 30 years is unconstitutional and should be stricken.
The court will hear arguments on Monday, but it will likely be months before a ruling is issued.
In 2002, the state legislature voted to extend the statute of limitation for civil cases on sex assault claims to 30 years from when a complainant reaches 18. It had previously been 17 years. The law was retroactive.
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