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	Texas Court Tosses Priest's Sex Conviction GMA News (Philippines) October 23, 2008 http://www.gmanews.tv/story/128786/Texas-court-tosses-priests-sex-conviction EASTLAND, Texas - An appeals court has thrown out the conviction of a former priest accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old Texas boy in the early 1990s. The 11th Court of Appeals ruled last week that the trial judge erred by allowing an advocate for victims of priest abuse to testify as an expert and by allowing testimony about abuse allegations for which the Rev. Thomas Teczar wasn't charged. Teczar was convicted last year on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to 25 years on each assault charge and 15 years on the indecency count. The sentences were concurrent. Eastland County District Attorney Russ Thomason said Wednesday he planned to retry the 67-year-old Teczar, formerly of Worcester, Massachusetts. He will be moved from the Texas prison system back to Eastland County for future court proceedings. Robin Norris, the El Paso-based attorney for Teczaw, said he planned to meet with his client and Thomason to discuss options. "Father Teczar has insisted all along upon his innocence," Norris said. Teczar was a priest in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese until his departure in 1993. He served in several parishes, including Ranger, where the victim testified he was abused.
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