CAMBRIDGE (MA)
Court TV
By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
EAST CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The lawyer of a defrocked priest accused of sexually assaulting a young boy put the credibility of the accuser on trial Thursday when cross-examination continued in Paul Shanley's child rape case.
Outside the jury's presence, defense attorney Frank Mondano argued Thursday morning that the defense should be able to continue using depositions from the accuser's personal injury suit against the Boston Archdiocese to impeach the credibility of his recollections.
After Judge Stephen Neel ruled in Mondano's favor, the attorney threw the accuser's own words at him in a bid to convince jurors that the now-27-year-old has a tendency "to forget, then remember, then forget again."
The alleged victim has testified that the sexual abuse he suffered at Shanley's hands has caused numerous problems in his life. When he was in high school, he said, he began using steroids "to make me feel better about myself," and began drinking "to excess."
Posted by kshaw at January 27, 2005 04:36 PM