Will Lynch Priest-beating Trial: Judge Deals Another Blow to Defendant but His Lawyers Rally

By Tracey Kaplan
Mercury News
June 26, 2012

http://www.mercurynews.com/los-gatos/ci_20941314/judge-priest-beating-trial-says-three-other-alleged

Will Lynch leaves the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice during the lunch break in San Jose, Calif. on Monday, June 25, 2012. Lynch is accused of allegedly assaulting Rev. Jerold Lindner, who he says molested him as a child in the mid-1970s. A motion for a mistrial was denied by Judge David A. Cena earlier in the day. (Gary Reyes/ Staff)

In a critical blow for the man accused of the revenge beating of a Los Gatos priest, the judge ruled Tuesday that three other people who also claim the Jesuit sexually assaulted them as children cannot testify about alleged molestations.

An audible groan rippled through the Santa Clara County courtroom when Judge David A. Cena announced his latest ruling, capping a weeklong flurry of unusual last minute legal maneuverings in the high-profile trial.

Cena's edict, for the first time, centered the trial on the beating itself, shifting the focus at least momentarily from the reason Will Lynch met with Rev. Jerold Lindner two years ago -- his desire to confront the priest he accuses of brutally molesting him and his little brother in the mid-1970s.

But by the end of the day, Lynch's lead lawyer Pat Harris had found a way to bring the jury's attention back to the purported rape of 7-year-old Lynch and molestation of his 4-year-old brother.

Cena's decision reversed a May ruling allowing Lynch's lawyers to call three of Lindner's 11 or more purported victims to the stand if the priest denied molesting the Lynches. The judge agreed with the defense that the testimony would be relevant because it could show whether or not the priest was a credible witness when he described the beating.

Last week, the priest denied molesting the brothers after testifying for 40 minutes about the short but "vicious" and painful beating that left him bruised and with two small cuts requiring stitches.

But the judge wound up striking the priest's entire testimony from the record Monday and ordered the jury to ignore it after the priest refused to answer any more questions, depriving Lynch of the right to cross-examine him.

Striking the priest's testimony eliminated the need to impeach him, according to the judge.

Lynch may still take the stand -- as early as Friday -- but it is unclear how much he will be allowed to say about being molested in the priest's tent on a camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains sponsored by a religious group.

Even though the Jesuits have doled out millions of dollars to settle cases brought by Lindner's purported victims -- including the Lynch brothers who got $187,000 each after legal fees -- the priest was never prosecuted because Lynch and others reported the abuse after the brief window of opportunity set by the statute of limitations ended.

Lynch chose to go to trial and risk four years in prison rather than negotiate a plea bargain for no more than a year in jail to expose Lindner and clergy sex abuse -- a goal that may be more difficult to achieve now with the judge's ruling.

Tuesday, prosecutor Vicki Gemetti put three witnesses on the stand, a wireless communication expert and two sheriff's deputies who investigated the May 10, 2010, beating.

Modesto-based wireless expert Jim Cook testified eight calls were made in the Los Gatos-Campbell area from Lynch's cell phone, in the vicinity of the Sacred Heart center, on the day of the attack.

On cross-examination, Harris asked how much Cook was being paid, a standard question typically lobbed by both sides. Cook said $175 an hour, or a little over $6,000.

"Did they ever tell you he (Lynch) agreed to stipulate he was there that day (at Sacred Heart Jesuit center in Los Gatos)," Harris asked. "You were told he was there that day and you went ahead and did the study anyway and charged the state and taxpayers $6,500?"

Harris had already acknowledged in May or early June that Lynch went to Sacred Heart center the day of the attack. But by putting the wireless expert on without telling the jury that, the prosecution achieved the impression that Lynch was denying the indisputable truth about his whereabouts.

The entire clash lead to a sidebar. Outside the presence of the jury, Gemetti asked the judge to bar Harris from bringing up the notion that the expert was a waste of taxpayer money in his closing argument. But Cena ruled Harris cannot only raise the issue, but also can argue that the case should never have been prosecuted.

Since Harris is conceding that Lynch was there on the day of the attack, the only legally viable defense left is self-defense. If Lynch takes that route when he testifies, he will have to explain how he, a 44-year-old man at the time, had to defend himself against 65-year-old Lindner.

The other possibility is Lynch's attorneys are hoping that at least one juror simply cannot bring himself to convict Lynch in light of the priest's purported behavior.

Gemetti's second witness, Deputy Sheriff Rick Chaeff, fared better under cross-examination than the wireless expert. A tall man with a pleasant voice and calm manner, Chaeff painted a sympathetic portrait of the wounded priest, whom he interviewed and examined within about an hour after the beating. The deputy, however, was barred from quoting anything the priest said to him because of the judge's ruling striking the priest's testimony from the record.

The limitation proved to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it meant Chaeff couldn't recount what the priest said about being in pain. At the same time, however, the prosecution couldn't bring up the priest's comment to Chaeff that he believed his brother may have orchestrated the beating out of a belief that Lindner molested his nieces and nephew, the brother's children.

But Harris was able to turn the spotlight back on Lindner's reputation during his cross-examination of Gemetti's last witness, Deputy Jonathon Seapon, who helped Chaeff investigate the beating.

"You were asked to do some Internet research" by Chaeff? Harris asked.

Seapon agreed, saying he was asked to "reference a website," referring obliquely to the brother's accusatory website. But Harris steered the jury's attention back to the priest's character.

"You actually typed in Father Lindner and molestation," Harris said asked Seapon, "and four separate articles came up, isn't that correct?"

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482.

Contact: tkaplan@mercurynews.com