NAPA (CA)
Napa Valley Register
By DAVID RYAN, Register Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006 1:11 AM PDT
A Napa priest lost his defamation lawsuit last week against a women accusing him of sexual abuse in Los Angeles more than 40 years ago.
Monsignor Joseph Alzugaray of St. Appollinaris Catholic Church in Napa filed a slander suit against Pasadena resident Erin Brady after she sued the Los Angeles Archidiocese, claiming he had molested her. Alzugaray's lawyers vigorously deny the claims in her lawsuit, which have not been considered yet by a judge or jury.
Alzugaray's slander case drew to a close Thursday when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jon Mayeda dismissed his claim against her. Claims against her lawyers and a group called the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) had been dismissed previously.