BishopAccountability.org
	$100m Verdict in Priest Abuse Case Returned by Miami Jury [lawyers Usa] By Kimberly Atkins Insurance News December 16, 2011 http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=314369 A Miami jury has returned a verdict of more than $100 million - including a $90 million punitive damages award - against a Catholic priest for sexually abusing a Michigan man when he was an at-risk teenager living in Miami. "The jury saw that this guy was a real predator," attorney Jeff Herman, managing partner at the Miami firm of Herman, Mermelstein & Horowitz, said of defendant Neil Doherty. The plaintiff alleged that Doherty preyed upon boys by offering them help only to later ply them with alcohol and sexually abuse them. "He turned their lives upside down," Herman said, adding that his client, Andres Susana, now 40, still suffers emotional injuries and flashbacks from the incidents. Doherty was not present during the trial. He was in a Florida jail awaiting a criminal trial on several charges of sexual assault on a child. And while he was represented at the time of his deposition testimony, which was entered into evidence, he was not represented during the trial itself, Herman said. At the end of the trial last month, which lasted less than two days, the jury returned a verdict for $10.6 million in compensatory and $90 million in punitive damages. The verdict was a moral victory for the plaintiff, who originally filed suit as a John Doe but decided after the verdict to reveal his name. "He felt so empowered by the verdict," Herman said. "It was such a healing process for him." The collectability of the award remains in question. Herman said he is currently going through the process of having Doherty's assets and insurance policies evaluated to determine how much, if any, of the award can be recovered.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.