By Patrick Johnson
The Republican
July 20, 2010
[with video]
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/bishop_thomas_dupre_video_show_1.html
SPRINGFIELD – A video released of a deposition given in April by disgraced bishop Thomas L. Dupre shows the former head of the Diocese of Springfield appearing unsettled and annoyed but ultimately sticking to the script.
Several times throughout the 3-hour taped deposition, Dupre's response to every question was to glance at the paper in front of him and then give the same response:
"I assert my rights to refuse to answer."
Throughout the 3-hour deposition, Dupre, dressed in a clerical collar, continually drummed his fingers on the glossy table surface. At times his eyes would dart around the room to the others in the room, his lawyer Michael O. Jennings and the plantiff's lawyer John J. Stobierski who was asking the questions. Other times Dupre would take quick glances directly into the video camera lens that was positioned in front of him.
| Former Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupre is seen in a still image from a videotaped deposition given in April as part of a suit filed in 2009 by Williamstown resident Andrew F. Nicastro against Dupre, the Most Rev. Joseph F. Maguire and Richard S. Sniezyk. |
Dupre also shuffled the stack of papers in front of him. But each time, he would come back to the one page that contained his only line of dialog: "I assert my rights to refuse to answer."
Watch the first 4 minutes of Dupre's deposition
The one point where he did deviate away from the script, Jennings quickly reminded him not to.
Asked if he knew one of the co-defendants, Dupre replied yes. Jennings can be heard saying "No, read it," refering to the page in front of him.
Dupre corrected himself and said "Oh, I assert my rights to refuse to answer."
Dupre was called to make a deposition as part of a suit filed in 2009 by Williamstown resident Andrew F. Nicastro against Dupre, Most Rev. Joseph F. Maguire, and Richard S. Sniezyk.
Nicastro, a former alter boy, alleges he was molested by former Rev. Alfred Graves between 1982 and 1984 at St. Patrick's Parish in Williamstown. The suit charges that Maguire, at the time the Springfield Diocese bishop, Dupre, then a chancellor and third in command of the diocese, and Sniezyk, Graves' supervisor, knew about the molestation and did nothing about it.
Dupre was bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield until 2004 when he retired suddenly amid allegations that he molested two boys in the 1970s.
Stobierski made the video available after Judge Bertha D. Josephson on Thursday shot down a motion by Jennings to keep it under wraps.
Jennings argued in court that releasing it to the public would "only serve to cause him embarrassment, harassment, or perhaps worse."
The Republican and MassLive.com obtained a copy of the deposition Monday from Stobierski at his Greenfield office. The complete video will be available on MassLive.com on Tuesday. Below is the complete transcript of the deposition.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.