WCAX
March 25, 2009
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=10067226
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Vermont's Catholic Diocese wants the state's highest court to overturn an $8.7 million award to a former altar boy.
The church argued the case in front of the Vermont Supreme Court at the Vermont Law School in South Royalton.
Last year, a jury in Burlington ruled in favor of the former altar boy. He claimed the diocese failed to protect him from Father Edward Paquette 30 years ago.
The diocese claims the victim waited too long to file the suit and the judge did not properly instruct the jurors about punitive damages.
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Vermont Law School Professor Cheryl Hanna said, "I think the bigger issue in this case is if Judge Katz made a mistake about punitive damages, and we saw a lot of back and forth between the attorneys in court about what that language should have been and whether or not when Judge Katz used the language of indifference. Whether or not that really met the level of the law that suggests there has to be some sort of malice in order to find that there are punitive damage."
The ruling in this case is expected to set a precedent because the church is still facing dozens of priest abuse lawsuits.
Vermont's Catholic Diocese already owes more than $12 million to victims.
A ruling in the case is expected later this year.
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