MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Tom Olsen
Forum News Service
POSTED: 09/11/2014
DULUTH, Minn. — With a trial just months away, the Diocese of Duluth went to court Thursday in an attempt to prevent the potential public release of decades’ worth of documents and depositions of top church officials related to priest sex abuse cases.
Two alleged abuse victims are suing the diocese, and their attorneys have made it clear that they intend to release documents and depositions that are obtained during the pre-trial discovery process — a plan that has drawn sharp criticism from attorneys for the diocese.
St. Louis County District Judge David Johnson heard about 20 minutes of oral arguments from attorneys before taking the matter under advisement. He did not ask any specific questions of the attorneys and gave no indication of how he would rule. The judge said a written decision would be issued “soon.”
The files on the accused priests have not yet been obtained by the plaintiffs’ attorneys, and no depositions have been taken at this time, but the pretrial discovery process is expected to ramp up soon as the first case heads to trial in February.
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