By Sheila Sanchez
Los Gatos Patch
October 17, 2011
losgatos.patch.com/articles/los-gatos-priest-beating-trial-delayed
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| Attorney Mark J. Geragos, standing next to defendant William Lynch, answers questions from reporters Thursday morning after Santa Clara County Superior Court judge ruled that there's enough evidence for the case to go to trial. |
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| William Lynch |
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| Supporters of William Lynch, the man accused of assaulting Father Jerold Lindner at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos last May, picket early Wednesday morning in front of the Santa Clara County Courthouse. |
Today's trial start date for a San Francisco man accused of beating a priest at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center last year has been delayed until probably next year, the prosecutor trying the case said Friday.
"We've had some settling snags and we're not going to be starting," said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Vicki Gemetti.
The reason for the delay is that defendant William Lynch's attorney, Pat Harris, with the Los Angeles-based law firm of Geragos & Geragos, is involved in another trial, according to Gemetti. "We don't have all the players so we need to reset it for a date that is actually going to work."
The parties will now convene on Oct. 28 in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose to set a new trial date, Gemetti added.
Realistically, the trial could begin early next year, Gemetti said, adding that she was just guessing and foreseeing scheduling conflicts related to the holidays and vacations. "I'm just guessing ... but it's not an ideal [time]. I would expect, based on what I know from the courts, that it's probably going to be sometime next year."
Lynch, 44, has been arraigned on one count of felony assault with intent to cause great bodily injury and one count of elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death.
Authorities say he walked into the center's reception area the afternoon of May 10, 2010, asked to speak to Father Jerold Lindner. He said he had a death notification about a member of the priest's family and then allegedly assaulted him. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
"I'm not going to try this case in the press," Gemetti noted, when asked to comment about the high interest in the trial from critics of the Roman Catholic Church who allege Lindner raped and sodomized Lynch and his brother when they were small boys in the '70s while on camping trips.
"I'm not going to comment on specific evidence that is or is not presented," she said. "This case is about the fact that Father Lindner was beaten up and that's what the jury will be deciding. Is the defendant responsible for this assault?"
If a jury convicts Lynch, he's looking at serving a maximum of four years in state prison. The court, however, could grant him probation and give him up to one year in county jail, she said.
Several calls and emails to Harris were not immediately returned by the time of this posting.
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