LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 17:52 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested following two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.