Nun Emerges As Surprise Witness at Chatham Murder Trial, by Ben Horowitz, The Star-Ledger, October 18, 2011

Nun Emerges As Surprise Witness at Chatham Murder Trial

By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
October 18, 2011

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/nun_is_surprise_witness_at_cha.html

The trial of Jose Feliciano, accused of killing a Chatham priest, is set to begin this week. A nun is expected to testify in Morristown today, and a judge will decide if her discussion with Feliciano is admissible.

A surprise witness — a nun who is also a therapist — would "put a spear in the heart" of Jose Feliciano's defense in the killing of a Chatham priest, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said Monday.

Feliciano’s conversation with Sister Catherine Morrisett, a pastoral counselor, would contradict his claim that he stabbed the Rev. Edward Hinds to end an unwanted sexual affair, according to Bianchi.

But the question now is whether she will be able to testify depending upon whether "counseling in the form of therapy" by Morrisett was a privileged communication. The legal issue will be decided by Superior Court Judge Thomas Manahan, who is presiding over the murder trial.

The judicial system allows for privileged communications, that is, conversations that take place in the context of a protected relationship as exists between a husband and wife, a doctor and patient, and an attorney and client. If Manahan deems the conversation between Morrisett and Feliciano privileged, then the nun cannot be compelled to testify.

For Bianchi, the decision is all important. Morrisett’s testimony would "fly in the face" of Feliciano’s assertion that he stabbed Hinds on Oct. 22, 2009 because the priest had threatened to fire him for ending a four-year affair, he said. "The relevance to us is going to be very, very high."

Morrisett is expected to testify in Morristown today before Judge Manahan, who will decide if Morrisett’s discussion with Feliciano is admissible.

Grace Counseling Center in Madison — a town adjacent to Chatham — lists Sister Catherine Morrisett as a staff therapist on its website and says she is a faculty member in the Pastoral Care Studies Program at Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and a clinical member in the Association for Imago Relationship Therapy.

At the Grace center, an official acknowledged Morissett is not a licensed therapist but pointed out that pastoral counselors are exempt from licensing in New Jersey.

Whether the judge will allow the nun’s testimony may depend on whether he views her more as a therapist or as a spiritual advisor.

Psychologists and other therapists must be licensed to be exempt from testifying, said Andrew Rossner, associate dean for professional education at Rutgers Law School in Newark.

However, Rossner said, conversations with clergy who counsel their flock, like therapists with patients, are protected under the "cleric-penitent privilege."

"New Jersey specifically recognizes a privilege between a cleric or spiritual advisor and someone who communicates with them for the purpose of confession," Rossner said.

"We balance the need for evidence with the need to protect certain institutions in our society," he added. "The First Amendment gives special protection to institutions of religion — the government should stay out of them."

Feliciano’s public defender, Neill Hamilton, who is trying to bar the testimony, criticized Bianchi for trying to introduce a "last-minute" witness who did not appear on any of the prosecutions lists until Monday. "It demonstrates the unreadiness of this case," Hamilton said.

Bianchi said he learned of Morrisett only after talking with another woman who was listed as a potential witness for the defense. She became "angry" when told of Feliciano’s sexual allegations against the priest and steered Bianchi to Morrisett.

Jury selection for Feliciano’s murder trial was expected to be completed Monday, but Manahan postponed it to tomorrow to accommodate today’s hearing.

During the hearing, Hamilton will also present a motion that would allow him to introduce Feliciano’s video-recorded statement in which he admitted stabbing Hinds, but said it was during an argument after the priest threatened to fire him for ending their sexual affair.

Because the confession was made during an interview with police, it would normally be introduced by the prosecution, but Bianchi has said he may not use it.