NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
The attorney for a former Passaic priest convicted of sex charges two weeks ago asked a judge on Friday for a new trial, arguing that the jury convicted his client without sufficient evidence.
Passaic County prosecutors, however, argued that the trial of Jose Lopez in state Superior Court in Paterson involved no irregularity that warrants a new trial. Judge Sohail Mohammed said he will make a decision next week.
Lopez, 37, was convicted in June 28 of luring, child endangerment and criminal sexual contact after prosecutors argued that he took a 14-year-old girl into his private suite at St. Mary’s Church in Passaic and molested her. The jury found him not guilty of attempted sexual assault.
Lopez, who faces up to 10 years in prison, has since been held without bail at the Passaic County Jail as he awaits sentencing in November.
Defense attorney James Porfido said at a hearing before Mohammed that the panel that convicted Lopez deliberated for only five hours to reach a verdict. He said that period of time could not have been enough to consider all of the evidence in the trial and argued that the jury was ready to convict his client from the start without listening to the case.
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