Jurors in Priest Trial Say They're at an Impasse; Judge Orders Them Back to Work

Philadelphia Inquirer
March 10, 2015

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150311_Jurors_in_priest_trial_say_they_re_at_an_impasse__judge_orders_them_back_to_work.html?c=r

The Rev. Andrew McCormick. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo) AP

After announcing it was at an impasse, a Philadelphia jury agreed to resume deliberations Wednesday in the trial of the Rev. Andrew McCormick, the Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy almost two decades ago in Bridesburg.

The Common Pleas Court jury was almost through its second full day of deliberations Tuesday when it told Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright it was deadlocked. Bright then instructed the jury to keep trying; about 90 minutes later the jurors said they wished to return the next day.

This is McCormick's second trial on the charges. Last year, another Common Pleas Court jury hung after 29 hours of deliberations. McCormick, 58, is accused of luring the boy in 1997 to his bedroom in the rectory of St. John Cantius Church, undressing him, and attempting to force him to perform oral sex.

McCormick's accuser, now 27, and his parents testified about how the alleged assault emotionally traumatized him, resulting in years of drug abuse and several suicide attempts. - Joseph A. Slobodzian