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	Fifth Trial Date Set for Priest Accused of Abusing Man Who Shot Him TheWBALChannel.com [Baltimore MD] December 8, 2004 BALTIMORE -- The trial of a priest accused of abusing a former parishioner who shot him years after the alleged abuse has been postponed until early next year. It marked the fifth time the trial for the Rev. Maurice Blackwell has been delayed. This time, the delay was caused by a lack of courtroom space in Baltimore Circuit Court. A new trial date was scheduled for Jan. 3. Blackwell was charged with four counts of child sexual abuse of Dontee Stokes beginning in 1989 and ending in 1992. In May 2002, in the midst of a national scandal involving Catholic priests, Stokes, 28, shot Blackwell three times outside the priest's home. Stokes was acquitted of attempted murder in December 2002, but convicted on gun charges. He testified he had an "out-of-body experience" at the time of the shooting. He served a sentence of home detention. Blackwell was not indicted until 2003.
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