Joltin Joe: Your thoughts on Philly Avery/Lynn/et al verdict

[D1B]

Crushing defeat for the church, especially after Avery changed his guity plea. If memory serves, you were convinced the plaintiff wasn't credible and there was no case.

State-employed prosecutors VS the best lawyers in the world,the bottomless cash pockets and political might of the church, a dramatic and surreptitious plea reversal by Avery on the stand and a relentless campaign to paint the victim as an evil opportunist....and victory for victim.

District Attorney Seth Williams, who calls it a tremendous verdict, praised the courage of the victim who has now testified in two trials.

“You saw during the course of this trial how they tried to victimize and demonize the victim of this case. So, I am very thankful that the jury listened and rendered the verdicts that they did to hold these two men accountable, responsible for the heinous crime that they committed.”

Defrocked priest Edward Avery pleaded guilty last year, but testified during this trial he just pleaded to get a good deal.

“To have him come and say that he only pled that way not because he was guilty, again it was some sort of continuing the conspiracy, continuing the cover-up to protect them, to protect the church at the expense of the victim which again shows the level of evil that existed in these men.”

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[JoltinJoe]

I think the verdict against Fr. Englehardt is likely to be reversed. It was a prosecutorial abuse to try him along with Fr. Avery and the others, and the taint of guilt by association was overwhelming. The trial court also abused its discretion in denying Englehartd's motion for a separate trial.

Englehardt had no prior complaints and his single accuser was a heroin addict who needed to include him in order to make a civil conspiracy claim, since otherwise his case was time-barred.

[D1B]

I think the verdict against Fr. Englehardt is likely to be reversed. It was a prosecutorial abuse to try him along with Fr. Avery and the others, and the taint of guilt by association was overwhelming. The trial court also abused its discretion in denying Englehartd's motion for a separate trial.

Englehardt had no prior complaints and his single accuser was a heroin addict who needed to include him in order to make a civil conspiracy claim, since otherwise his case was time-barred.

Child victims of rape often go on to suffer as adults. Substance abuse is high.

”The victim in this case has shown exceptional courage,” said District Attorney Seth Williams. “Not only did he have the strength to report his abuse, he had the tenacity to look his abusers in the eye and testify in front of complete strangers about the horrific details of his attacks. I hope this verdict will help him to continue with the long journey of healing that comes after such trauma.”

Justice is served.....

Shero and Engelhardt were taken into immediate custody. They each face more than a decade in prison when they are sentenced in April. Their relatives were inconsolable.

The victim now lives in Florida and was not in court, although his parents were. He told jurors this month that he'd been clean for a year, after 23 stints in drug rehabilitation.

Joe, you guys need better lawyers.

[JoltinJoe]

D, they could have named you as a co-conspirator/co-defendant with Avery and convicted you.

Englehardt/Shero deserved separate trials. The trial court was out of its mind to deny their request. Hopefully the Appellate Court will see to it that they get fair trials.

[D1B]

D, they could have named you as a co-conspirator/co-defendant with Avery and convicted you.

Englehardt/Shero deserved separate trials. The trial court was out of its mind to deny their request. Hopefully the Appellate Court will see to it that they get fair trials.

Sounds like the victim was convincing.

This should have been a slam dunk for the defendants.

[JoltinJoe]

D, they could have named you as a co-conspirator/co-defendant with Avery and convicted you.

Englehardt/Shero deserved separate trials. The trial court was out of its mind to deny their request. Hopefully the Appellate Court will see to it that they get fair trials.

Sounds like the victim was convincing.

This should have been a slam dunk for the defendants.

I think Avery coming into court and saying he was innocent, and pleading guilty, was highly prejudicial.

I still can't understand how Englehardt was denied a separate trial. Imagine, you are 65 years old, you've never had any accusations against you of the slightest impropriety, let alone something like this, and some heroin addict comes along and accuses you of assaulting him, along with a notorious perp liked Avery. And then you are tried as a co-conspirator and a co-defendant along with Avery.

There's no way any rational juror could have reached a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Throwing the Avery card into the deck was dirty pool.

And I know people who know Englehardt and they say these charges are absolute bullshit.

[D1B]

Sounds like the victim was convincing.

This should have been a slam dunk for the defendants.

I think Avery coming into court and saying he was innocent, and pleading guilty, was highly prejudicial.

I still can't understand how Englehardt was denied a separate trial. Imagine, you are 65 years old, you've never had any accusations against you of the slightest impropriety, let alone something like this, and some heroin addict comes along and accuses you of assaulting him, along with a notorious perp liked Avery. And then you are tried as a co-conspirator and a co-defendant along with Avery.

There's no way any rational juror could have reached a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Throwing the Avery card into the deck was dirty pool.

And I know people who know Englehardt and they say these charges are absolute bullshit.

Obviously his lawyers did a piss poor job trying to convince judge to sever his case, which surprises me, cuz he probably had a top level legal team. The alleged crimes were similar, their backgrounds were very different, as you highlighted. Perhaps that isn't enough.

I just noticed the judge in the Steubenville Football Idiots case refused to grant separate trials for a group of defendants.

That's a mess. My father graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Cap'n Cat was born there. Great school and decent community, til now.

[JoltinJoe]

There's a real irony in throwing a guy like Engelhardt (probably innocent) into the can while guys like Mahoney, Law, and Bevilacqua never get charged. Engelhardt got caught up into a firestorm where a charged Catholic priest is guilty just based on accusation because of the furor resulting from the inaction of a number of cardinals over the years. Even Lynn got rapped because they couldn't get to Bevilacqua (not that he was innocent, but he certainly was a role player in the situation).

But, this is the point I've been trying to make. I grew up and lived my life in two archdioceses which has a very small problem, due to decisions made Cardinals Cooke and O'Connor (NY) and Archbishops Boland and Geraty (Newark, NJ). They removed from active ministry any priest credibly charged with abuse of a child, even if they had been treated and recommended for return to active ministry. These priests were sent to positions where they would have no contact with children. The 10 to 15 dioceses in the US that have significant legal exposure made bad decisions and people today are paying for them.

[D1B]

There's a real irony in throwing a guy like Engelhardt (probably innocent) into the can while guys like Mahoney, Law, and Bevilacqua never get charged. Engelhardt got caught up into a firestorm where a charged Catholic priest is guilty just based on accusation because of the furor resulting from the inaction of a number of cardinals over the years. Even Lynn got rapped because they couldn't get to Bevilacqua (not that he was innocent, but he certainly was a role player in the situation).

But, this is the point I've been trying to make. I grew up and lived my life in two archdioceses which has a very small problem, due to decisions made Cardinals Cooke and O'Connor (NY) and Archbishops Boland and Geraty (Newark, NJ). They removed from active ministry any priest credibly charged with abuse of a child, even if they had been treated and recommended for return to active ministry. These priests were sent to positions where they would have no contact with children. The 10 to 15 dioceses in the US that have significant legal exposure made bad decisions and people today are paying for them.

Cardinals were just taking orders from Ratzinger/Vatican.

[D1B]

There's a real irony in throwing a guy like Engelhardt (probably innocent) into the can while guys like Mahoney, Law, and Bevilacqua never get charged. Engelhardt got caught up into a firestorm where a charged Catholic priest is guilty just based on accusation because of the furor resulting from the inaction of a number of cardinals over the years. Even Lynn got rapped because they couldn't get to Bevilacqua (not that he was innocent, but he certainly was a role player in the situation).

But, this is the point I've been trying to make. I grew up and lived my life in two archdioceses which has a very small problem, due to decisions made Cardinals Cooke and O'Connor (NY) and Archbishops Boland and Geraty (Newark, NJ). They removed from active ministry any priest credibly charged with abuse of a child, even if they had been treated and recommended for return to active ministry. These priests were sent to positions where they would have no contact with children. The 10 to 15 dioceses in the US that have significant legal exposure made bad decisions and people today are paying for them.

Speaking of Newark....

Newark Archdiocese under fire for letting priest convicted of groping boy serve as cleric
Monday February 4, 2013, 10:07 PM
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF, KAREN SUDOL AND EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITERS
The Record


Critics accused the Newark Archdiocese on Monday of violating a bishops’ agreement to bar abusive priests by allowing a former Wyckoff assistant pastor to serve as a cleric years after he admitted to fondling a teenager.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, 52, has been a priest in good standing since an archdiocesan review board determined several years ago that he could continue as a cleric as long as he has no unsupervised contact with children, said James Goodness, a spokesman for Newark Archbishop John J. Myers.

Fugee, was an assistant pastor at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wyckoff from 1997 to 2001, when he was charged with criminal sexual contact and child endangerment for allegedly groping a 13-year-old boy. He now works in the archdiocese’s administrative offices, where he is in charge of raising money for missionary work, Goodness said.

Critics said Fugee should be barred from working as a priest based on an agreement known as the Dallas Charter that American bishops reached at a conference in 2002 to remove from ministry all clerics credibly accused of sexually abusing a child. Goodness said Fugee is not allowed to work in a parish. He declined to say how the review board came to the conclusion that he could continue working at all. “We don’t believe it is” a violation of the charter, Goodness said Monday.

David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said that by allowing Fugee to work as a priest, Myers has failed to abide by the Dallas Charter. “I think it’s a clear violation of the Dallas Charter, not to mention simple common sense and decency,” Clohessy said.But he said the charter has been implemented unevenly. The Catholic Church has failed to enforce its provisions, he said, leaving bishops to make their own rules.

“It’s akin to having speed limits but no cops,” Clohessy said.

Fugee testified at his 2003 trial that he wrestled playfully with the boy, but a jury gave greater weight to a statement he had previously given to police and later recanted. In that statement, he admitted grabbing the boy’s crotch to satisfy an urge.

[D1B]

How is it possible that Catholic bishops, scorned for their bungling of the church’s sex abuse scandal, remain so consistently tone-deaf when it comes to their kid-gloves treatment of accused priests?

What else explains Newark Archbishop John J. Myers’ appointment of the Rev. Michael Fugee — a priest forbidden to be alone with children after admitting he groped a boy in his parish — to a prestigious position in the archdiocese?

A spokesman says the archdiocese “has every confidence” in Fugee, that he won’t be left alone with kids. That’s an extraordinary vote of confidence for a man who confessed to touching a young boy — escaping only on a technicality.

Sadly, this isn’t surprising. It’s Myers’ pattern of misplaced faith in men who abused the church’s youngest parishioners.

Fugee is one of four priests Myers shielded from accusations they targeted and abused children. He was charged in 2001 after confessing he grabbed the crotch of a 14-year-old boy — though he later recanted. He was convicted of criminal sexual contact, but the verdict was overturned on a judge’s error.

Instead of retrying Fugee, prosecutors struck a deal that let him avoid charges, in exchange for agreeing to undergo counseling and never have unsupervised contact with children.

But in 2009, Myers appointed Fugee chaplain of St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, with unfettered access to patients and visitors, including kids. Neither told the hospital about Fugee’s restrictions. The hospital sought his removal only after a reporter asked questions.
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Now Myers has a new job for Fugee. The job doesn’t put him in contact with children, but rather includes him educating priests. He still leads Mass regularly.

Fugee’s new position shows “breathtaking arrogance,” says Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the BishopAccountability.org watchdog group. It’s hard to disagree. Myers believes Fugee is a victim, not a predator. His actions back it up.

For decades, U.S. Catholic bishops demonstrated insensitive incompetence, responding to sexual abuse by moving accused priests from parish to parish — Myers among them. In 2002, U.S. bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward abusers and required background checks for anyone working with children. Yet despite Fugee’s confession, Myers repeatedly ignored the record.

Fugee’s promotions insult all victims of clergy abuse. In doing so, Myers continues to defiantly stain the church, including its innocent clergy and generations of parishioners who believed their children were the flock, when they were actually the prey.

[andy7171]

Shame on you D1b after all the Church did for your brother!

[D1B]

Shame on you D1b after all the Church did for your brother!

No nastiness on my part. Joe mentioned his former diocese and I highlighted a breaking issue.

Do you dream about me?

[Grizalltheway]

Shame on you D1b after all the Church did for your brother!

No nastiness on my part. Joe mentioned his former diocese and I highlighted a breaking issue.

Do you dream about me?