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	Judge Set to Rule on Whether Belleville Diocese Will Get New Trial on Sex Abuse Case Diocese May Appeal If New Trial Denied By George Pawlaczyk News-Democrat October 24, 2008 http://www.bnd.com/news/crime/story/515198.html BELLEVILLE — During a brief hearing Thursday, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto said he would rule within a week on whether the Belleville Diocese will be granted a new trial regarding a 2002 lawsuit brought by a former altar boy who said he was sexually abused by a priest. St. Louis attorney David Wells, who represents the diocese, and Mike Weilmuenster, who appeared on behalf of plaintiff David Wisniewski, declined to make oral arguments and said they would depend on their submitted motions. Wisniewski won $5-million in damages on Aug. 27 after an eight-day trial. Testimony indicated that the Rev. Raymond Kownacki sexually abused Wisniewski for five years beginning when he was 13 and that diocesan officials covered up the abuse went unrefuted. Kownacki was removed from ministry in 1995 because of alleged sexual abuse of minors. He has stated he will not comment. Wells argues in his motion that time had run out for Wisniewski to seek damages for injuries that allegedly occurred in the early 1970s. The diocese made an unusual appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court a few days prior to trial and presented that same argument in a motion asking for the trial to be delayed. The high court declined to intervene. Weilmuenster and fellow attorney Steve Wigginton have argued that the statute of limitations did not apply because Wisniewski did not realize that he had been psychologically damaged until 2002, when priest sexual abuse became an issue nationally because of a scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. If the diocese's arguments for a new trial are denied, the legal path is cleared for an appeal to the Fifth Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.
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