LOS ANGELES (CA)
North County Times
By: LINDA DEUTSCH - Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Jurors in a molestation case against a retired Roman Catholic priest ended their first day of deliberations Friday with a request to hear a readback of testimony from the trial's key witness.
According to the court, the panel asked for a reading of a limited portion of the testimony of the 26-year-old man who claims he was molested by Michael Wempe in the 1990s. The alleged victim is known as Jayson B.
The matter will be taken up with lawyers when the jurors return from a long weekend. Monday is a court holiday and the panel does not resume its talks until Tuesday afternoon because of a juror's previously scheduled medical appointment in the morning.
The case was submitted to jurors by Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe on Friday morning. He spent about a half hour reading to them legal instructions dealing with the charges against Wempe and with the evidence of uncharged crimes presented during the trial.