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	Jurors Wanted to Finish Diocese Negligence Trial By Brian Joyce WCAX [Burlington VT] June 26, 2007 http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=6713809&nav=4QcS It looks like a mistrial MAY have been a big break for the Vermont Catholic Diocese. Jurors in the Church Sex abuse trial said Tuesday that the evidence indicated the Diocese was negligent in failing to protect a teenager from a predatory priest. Channel 3 spoke by phone with six of the jurors on condition we would not identify them. But one day after Judge Ben Joseph declared a mistrial, they all agreed the plaintiff was winning. There was stunned silence when Vermont's first priest abuse trial ended abruptly in a mistrial Monday afternoon. During some testimony the Diocese lawyers zeroed in on some evidence that the judge had prohibited, specifically, questioning about a possible homosexual relationship involving the brother of the plaintiff, James Turner., 46, and the priest accused of molesting Turner 30 years ago. Turner's lawyers requested a mistrial. The judge granted it Channel 3 contacted six members of the jury Tuesday. They say they were disappointed with the mistrial because they wanted to hear all the evidence and deliver a verdict. They say they found James Turner's testimony credible, they believed that former priest Alfred Willis molested Turner, and they were shocked by the evidence indicating the Diocese had protected pedophile priests for decades. The jurors told us that, by about a three to one margin, they were leaning in favor of Turner when the trial ended. But they stressed they had not yet heard the church's evidence. Attorneys from both sides said they were not surprised by the jury's comments. "I'm very happy that the jurors were able to absorb the information we were giving them," said Jerry O'Neill, Turner's lawyer. "Some of that information is just horrid information as to what was going on and I'm very pleased that the jury was able to understand it and be able to put it in perspective and hopefully would have had the chance to make use of it if the case had gone all the way through to a verdict," O'Neill added. "I'm not surprised that midway through the plaintiff's case or near the end of the plaintiff's case, that they would be leaning toward the plaintiff," said Tom McCormick, an attorney for the Diocese. "That's human nature. That's why we asked them at the beginning to wait 'til we told our story before they made up their minds. And I'm sure they would have done that," McCormick added. Now this case is not really over. Turner's lawyer wants Vermont's supreme court to order the Diocese to pay his legal costs... and the Catholic church wants to make sure that if there is another trial, some of Judge Joseph's rulings are overturned. The Diocese felt he was unfair and biased and they tried twice to remove him from the case. Contact: Brian Joycejoyce@wcax.com
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