ALABAMA
AL.com
By Brendan Kirby | bkirby@al.com
on June 19, 2015
With a new judge now hearing the case, attorneys for the Archdiocese of Mobile have renewed efforts to block a priest from answering questions under oath about a past relationship with a teenager.
Mobile County Circuit Judge Sarah Stewart on March 27 rejected the church’s arguments that statements about the decade-old relationship involving the Rev. Johnny Savoie are protected by attorney-client privilege and that an internal investigation into the matter is protected under evidentiary rules holding that lawyers are not completed to turn over their “work product” to opposing attorneys.
Several lawsuits alleging that St. Puis X School officials tolerated — and in some cases participated in — bullying of students have been consolidated in front of special Judge Braxton Kittrell. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore appointed the retired judge after Presiding Mobile County Circuit Judge Charles Graddick recused all of the sitting judges from the case.
David Kennedy, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he is confident that Kittrell with keep Stewart’s ruling in place.
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