Outagamie County Jury to Hear Case against Diocese

By Jim Collar
Green Bay Press-Gazette
April 3, 2012

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120404/GPG0101/204040578/Outagamie-County-jury-hear-case-against-diocese

APPLETON — A judge on Tuesday denied a request from the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay that a jury from outside Outagamie County hear a civil lawsuit brought by two childhood sexual assault victims.

A jury trial is scheduled next month in Outagamie County Court in the lawsuit filed by brothers Troy and Todd Merryfield stemming from their childhood sexual abuse at the hands of former priest John Feeney.

The Merryfields, formerly of Freedom, were sexually assaulted by Feeney in the late 1970s.

They say the diocese was fraudulent in failing to inform Freedom's St. Nicholas Catholic Church of Feeney's past, which included church-ordered sexual abuse counseling.

Patrick Brennan, an attorney for the diocese, argued for an outside jury because he said media reports have been steady since the case was filed in 2008 and it could result in a prejudiced jury.

"The risk is simply too high," he said.

But Judge Nancy Krueger said the majority of newspaper and television reports specific to the Merryfield case have been informational and weren't prejudicial. General reports regarding sexual abuse in the priesthood are "not going to be overcome by moving this case to another county," she said.

Krueger said a large pool of potential jurors should be sufficient to ensure an unbiased panel.

In addition to ruling on the jury issue Tuesday, Krueger also prohibited either side from disseminating pretrial evidence to the public.

The ruling followed a request from Brennan seeking a protective order to safeguard transcripts from any potential deposition of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.

Prosser, who yet hasn't given any pretrial evidentiary testimony related to the case, was Outagamie County's district attorney during the period the Merryfields were assaulted.

Feeney, 85, was convicted in 2003 of four counts of sexually assaulting the Merryfields, who were 12 and 14 years old at the time of the abuse.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released after serving less than eight years.

Feeney reached his mandatory release date in November and was placed in an Appleton halfway house. He has since moved to Missouri, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Feeney was moved from parish to parish 14 times in 14 years, commonly after allegations of sexual misconduct, during his stint in the Green Bay diocese.

In all, Feeney served at 18 parishes in the diocese between his June 1952 ordination and before moving to California in 1983.

During a court hearing last month, attorneys said an attempt to resolve the case through mediation failed. The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, will begin May 14.