Updated: Jury Selection Begins in Civil Trial of Bishops

By Father Bill Pomerleau
iobserve
July 26, 2012

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SPRINGFIELD – Jury selection began July 23 for a trial that may – or may not – give the public new insights into how the Diocese of Springfield handled cases of clergy sexual misconduct in the 1970s and 1980s.

After questioning nearly 100 potential jurors for more than two hours, Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney had seated only 10 men and women for what is expected to be a two-week trial.

Andrew Nicastro, a Williamstown resident who operates Isabella’s Restaurant in North Adams, is suing Springfield Bishop Emeritus Joseph F. Maguire and former Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupre in a civil case alleging that they failed to protect him from former priest Alfred Graves.

Graves, who actively served as a diocesan priest from 1967 to 1992, was taken out of ministry and forbidden to present himself as a priest by the late Bishop John A. Marshall, apparently after new allegations of misconduct came to the attention of the diocese. The diocese later confirmed that allegations that then-Father Graves had sexually abused boys were credible.

Father Graves was laicized in 2006.

Nicastro, now in his 40s, alleges that he was abused by then-Father Graves at the former St. Patrick Parish in Williamstown and the former St. Matthew Church in Indian Orchard from 1982 to 1984.

Media reports have indicated that Graves abused another boy as early as 1969, when he was a parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in Springfield. But the current trial is expected to focus on events in the summer of 1977, when the mother of abuse victim James Erickson allegedly wrote to Bishop Maguire reporting that her son had been abused.

Nicastro claims that Bishop Maguire and then-Father Dupre, the co-chancellor of the diocese, failed to protect NicCastro from abuse by returning Father Graves to active ministry without proper supervision.

Nicastro, who chose not to participate in the mediation process that led the diocese to provide $13 million in compensation to several dozen abuse victims in 2004 and 2008, is now legally barred from presenting a lawsuit against the diocese. He has chosen to sue Bishops Maguire and Dupre personally.

Before questioning the potential jurors individually, Judge Sweeney told them as a group that potential witnesses in the trial might include several well-known diocesan figures.

These could include current diocesan chancellor Msgr. Daniel P. Liston; former priest personnel director and vicar general Msgr. Richard S. Sniezyk; and Sister of St. Joseph of Chambery Carol Cifatte, a former assistant chancellor of the diocese.

Nicastro’s attorney, John Stobierski, also could call Father James J. Scahill, pastor of St. Michael Parish in East Longmeadow, and Dominican Father Thomas Doyle. Father Scahill has been a longtime critic of Bishop Dupre’s handling of sexual misconduct cases, while Father Doyle is a nationally-known critic of the U.S. bishops who has testified as an expert witness in several cases across the country.

Mental health professionals also may testify.

Past bishops of Springfield, like their counterparts across the country, have repeatedly contended that they relied on flawed advice from counselors and others who believed that priests who had committed abuse could be successfully rehabilitated, and returned to ministry,

Attorney John J. Egan, Bishop Maguire’s attorney, told iobserve that his client will likely testify during the trial. But Bishop Dupre, who reportedly lives in the Washington D.C. area and is being represented by Springfield Attorney Michael O. Jennings, will not appear.

Bishop Dupre was questioned by Stobierski in a court-ordered deposition in Washington on April 16, 2010. During two hours of questioning, he repeatedly invoked his constitutional right to remain silent. Some or all of a videotape or written transcript of the testimony may be presented as evidence in the case, Egan told iobserve.

Last year’s deposition and pre-trial discussions before Judge Sweeney hint at the line of questioning likely to arise during the trial.

Stobierski intends to call Thomas Deshaies to the stand. Deshaies is one of two men who, while minors, were allegedly abused by Bishop Dupre around the same time he was supervising Father Graves’ abuse case for Bishop Maguire.

Another key part of the case is the question of whether Nicastro reported his abuse to the authorities after the statute of limitations had expired. State law gives victims several years to mount a legal case against their abusers if they only recently realized that their abuse had caused them grave harm.

Stobierski intends to call as a witness Jesuit Father Mark J. Burke, who as administrator of Sts. Patrick and Raphael Parish in Williamstown in 2008, counseled Nicastro.

Egan intends to call Father William E. Cyr, who is expected to say that Nicastro spoke to him of his abuse several years earlier.