By Sheila Sanchez
Los Gatos Patch
February 10, 2011
http://losgatos.patch.com/articles/protesters-picket-at-courthouse-in-support-of-man-charged-with-beating-los-gatos-priest
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A Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center employee testified this afternoon that she heard William Lynch, the man charged with assaulting a priest in the compound last May, accuse the defrocked cleric of ruining his life and the life of his brother the day of the alleged beating.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Vicki Gemetti called Mary Margaret Eden, a 13-year health-care employee of the California Province of Jesuits, to the witness stand during Lynch's preliminary hearing.
"He was saying that Father Lindner ruined his life and his brother's life," she said. "He was using obscenities and being very angry ... He said, 'You f----- up my life and my brother's life. You ruined our lives."
She also said she heard priest Jerold Lindner cry out the words, "help, help," as she approached the parlor where the alleged assault took place. She said she found Linder on his knees in a crouched position with blood on his face and shirt.
To refresh her memory, Gemetti showed Eden five photographs of Lindner.
Eden then, responding to questioning by Gemetti, said a man with a dark blue or black baseball cap, medium height, with a briefcase, wearing gloves and a dark jacket was the man responsible for the beating. Asked if she recognized anyone in the courtroom as the person in the parlor with Linder the day of the incident, Eden identified Lynch, sitting next to his attorney, Pat Harris.
Eden also said she saw Lynch "punching Father Lindner" twice in the face. "He stopped when he saw me," she said. "They seemed to be full blows ... "
The witness also said she remembered Lynch walking toward the door and returning to the parlor, pacing back and forth, for a couple of minutes, and then being told that a receptionist was calling 911. He eventually left the premises, she said.
Under cross-examination by Harris, Eden conceded she had not told sheriff's deputies that she had seen Lynch hit Lindner.
Harris asked her if Wednesday was the first time she had ever told anyone she had actually seen Lynch hit Lindner. "I don't remember telling the officers that," Eden said.
Harris also asked her about a third reason for priests being sent to the center, besides being ill or retired. Upon this line of questioning, Gemetti asked to speak to Cena with Harris. "There's a third reason why priests are brought to the center, isn't there?" he pressed.
To which Eden responded, "We do have Jesuits that have been sent to Sacred Heart for different reasons."
Harris then said the third reason is because they've been accused or convicted of child sexual abuse or molestation.
The hearing Wednesday was emotional for many who claimed they have been victims of abuse. A woman openly sobbed in the small courtroom during Eden's testimony.
Lynch has said Lindner sodomized and raped him and his brother as young boys. He sued the church in 1997 for the alleged abuse and settled out of court.
Also scheduled to testify this afternoon was Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Ryan Elder.
Earlier Wednesday, about 50 supporters of Lynch picketed outside the San Jose courthouse to show support for his allegations of abuse.
Holding large picket signs and walking in front of the courthouse, the group chanted "Jail for Father Jerry," while others spoke to reporters convened here to cover the case.
A woman who identified herself only as Christina, said she was a part of the camping trips to Portola State Park organized by Lindner in the '70s when Lynch and his brother allege they were raped and sodomized.
"The thing that I'm most concerned about is that these priests are not covered by Megan's Law, because of statutes of limitation, and they're free, when these children were raped in the '70s," she said.
Among those attending to show support were Lynch's mother, Peggy Lynch, of San Francisco; Los Gatos resident Eric Boyenga; and John Chevedden, whose brother, Jesuit priest James Chevedden, killed himself when he jumped from the sixth floor of the Santa Clara County Courthouse's parking garage in 2005.
Chevedden accused the Jesuits of negligence in his brother's death and in 2007 and settled with the order for $1.6 million.
Boyenga, who's lived in Los Gatos for more than 15 years, said he's a close friend of William Lynch, having gone to kindergarten with him in Los Altos when he was 5. "I've seen the results of what's happened to him. It's really sad. I know the whole family," Boyenga said.
The Rev. John P. McGarry, the provincial of the California Province of the Society of Jesus, said only five men live at the Los Gatos center who have been investigated for allegations of child abuse.
Lindner, said McGarry, is under a strict security plan that prevents him from leaving the center unsupervised.
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