BishopAccountability.org
	Lawyer Says Accused Seymour Priest Too Ill to Answer Questions By Lauren Garrison Middletown Press November 2, 2010 http://middletownpress.com/articles/2010/11/02/news/doc4cd02c6c108f5436748154.txt The Seymour priest accused in two civil lawsuits of sexually molesting young boys in the 1970s and 1980s is suffering from a medical condition that will prevent him from being deposed at this time, the priest’s attorney said in Superior Court Monday. “There is a medical condition that prevents Father (Stephen) Bzdyra at the present time from being deposed. Unless and until he’s deemed medically fit to do anything, we cannot produce him for a deposition. But when that determination is made by a physician, we will certainly produce him,” attorney Marisa Bellair said Monday. Bellair declined to specify the medical condition. She said she plans to submit more briefs to the judge Nov. 15 about Bzdyra’s ability to testify. Bellair and attorney Joel Faxon of New Haven, who represents the two alleged victims, appeared in court in the case of the first person to file suit, William Dotson, 34, of New Haven. Dotson filed suit in July, claiming Bzdyra sexually molested him when he was an altar boy in the 1980s at St. Francis Church in New Haven, and later at St. Hedwig Church in Naugatuck. A second man, who wished to remain anonymous, filed a lawsuit a month later, claiming he, too, was sexually abused by Bzdyra in the late 1970s at St. Hedwig, where he was a student. Bzdyra, who most recently served at St. Augustine Church in Seymour, was placed on leave by the Archdiocese of Hartford after the first lawsuit was filed. Faxon said Monday, “Bzdyra claims that he is incapacitated and unable to appear for a deposition due to his health. It’s interesting that he was able to go on a European pilgrimage at the time the suit was filed, but now claims to be so incapacitated that I can’t ask him questions about the sexual abuse of Will Dotson. “I am demanding proof that he is really too sick to sit at a conference table and answer questions.” Also Monday, Bellair sought a protective order to restrict videotape taken of Bzdyra’s deposition from being released to the public. She explained, “... we’ve had some instances in the past where videotapes have been disclosed and released to the media and taken out of context. In order to ensure that our client’s whole story is transmitted in the public, we feel that the public doesn’t have any advance need to know right now what the testimony of this priest will be up until the time of trial.” Faxon said he opposes any move to restrict the release of information. Faxon said the judge has 120 days to rule on these issues, but that he expects it will happen sooner. He said they are scheduled to return to court in early December for more hearings
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.