Courier-Post
October 29, 2009
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20091029/NEWS01/91029041/1006/news01
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| A member of Westboro Baptist Church protests earlier this week in Central Jersey. Photo by JOE MCLAUGHLIN/Gannett New Jersey |
The janitor charged with killing the pastor of St. Patrick's parish is scheduled to make his first court appearance today as details were finalized for the Rev. Edwards Hinds funeral and a hate group making a tour of New Jersey announced they planned to picket the funeral.
Jose Feliciano, who is charged with murdering Hinds on Oct. 22, will be brought before a Superior Court judge for a bail review. Bail for Feliciano is set at $1 million and could be adjusted during the hearing, which is also held to make certain a defendant has been apprised of his or her legal rights.
Feliciano currently is lodged at the Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton, where mentally unstable, suicidal or violent defendants are detained. Judges in Morris County in the past have had defendants transported from Ann Klein to court for first procedures to make sure their legal rights are preserved.
Hinds body is to arrive at St. Patrick Church in Chatham on Friday at 11 a.m., according to Lewis & Carey funeral home, which is handling the arriagnments. A service of reception of his casket will be held at the time and then visitation will run until 10 p.m. Friday with a vigil service at 7 p.m.
A liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the church on Saturday at 10 a.m. Graveside services will be private at a family plot in Basking Ridge.
Meanwhile, members of the Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., announced via their website that they would be protesting the funeral.
About a half dozen members of the church, which preaches that God hates homosexuals, Jews and America in general and warns that God will soon destroy the world for what the group considers America's sinfulness, have been making a tour of New Jersey over the last few days.
Six people picketed the Cooperman Jewish Center in West Orange on Tuesday and about the same number stood in the rain Wednesday morning outside New Brunswick High School and then Rutgers Hillel. Church members did not give a specific reason for choosing these locations but Rutgers.
The Morris County Prosecutor's Office is aware of the group's plan to picket the event, according to Capt. Jeffrey Paul a spokesperson for Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.
"We are aware of the protest and we have spoken with the Chatham Borough Police Department. We have also spoken with the attorney representing the Westboro Baptist Church. The Chatham Borough Police Department will provide a location for the Westboro Baptist Church to conduct their lawful protest. We have gone over the legal parameters with the church attorney and have been informed that they will respect the funeral services," Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said.
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