Judge sets May 1 for retrial of Msgr. Lynn in clergy sex abuse case
A Philadelphia judge has set May 1 for the retrial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Catholic Church official in the nation to be convicted over his supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
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A Philadelphia judge has set May 1 for the retrial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Catholic Church official in the nation to be convicted over his supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
Lynn, 65, who was released from state prison Tuesday on $250,000 bail, said nothing during the brief hearing Thursday before Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright.
Unlike previous court appearances, in which he dressed in the black suit and Roman collar of a Catholic priest, Lynn entered court in dark slacks and a light blue polo shirt, looking thinner than at his first trial in 2012.
In addition to the new trial date, Bright ordered Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo and defense attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom to file all pretrial motions by Dec. 12.
Zarallo told the judge he believed several days of hearings will be needed to decide how much evidence from church personnel files on priests accused of sexually abusing children will be presented to a jury in the new trial.
Lynn's first trial had 13 weeks of testimony, most of it in a review of records from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia about investigations of about two dozen priests dating to 1940.
It was this historical evidence that resulted in December's 2-1 decision by a Superior Court panel reversing Lynn's conviction and ordering a new trial.
The Superior Court ruled that the volume of historical cases that prosecutors used tainted the jury's ability to reach a fair verdict. The District Attorney's Office asked the state Supreme Court to reverse Superior Court, but the high court affirmed the ruling on July 26, clearing the way for Lynn's release.
Zarallo said prosecutors will still use some of the historical evidence in the retrial but how much will be agreed on after pretrial hearings.
Lynn was not accused of molesting children. Instead, prosecutors alleged that as secretary for clergy - responsible for investigating allegations against priests and recommending action - Lynn continued the church's long-standing practice of rotating pedophile priests from parish to parish.
To establish that Lynn was part of the archdiocese's governing culture, prosecutors at trial introduced historical information on clergy sex abuse and how Lynn responded to parishioner complaints.
Bergstrom has criticized prosecutors' decision to retry Lynn, arguing that Lynn has already served almost the minimum of the three- to six-year prison term imposed in 2012 by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.
District Attorney Seth Williams has said Lynn's retrial is necessary because of his pivotal role advising the past two archdiocesan leaders - Cardinal Justin Rigali and the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua - about dealing with pedophile priests.
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