PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The trial of a former Philadelphia priest and a Catholic schoolteacher on charges they sexually abused a 10-year-old altar boy in 1998 and 1999 was abruptly postponed this morning because of deaths in the family of a defense attorney.
The Philadelphia Common Pleas Court room was set up for jury selection when Judge M. Teresa Sarmina announced the delay because of deaths in the family of Michael J. McGovern.
Court officials said that over the past several days, a sister-in-law died in Florida and McGovern’s uncle died in Philadelphia.
Sarmina set a status hearing for Friday but said the case would be transferred to a different judge because she has back-to-back homicide trials scheduled through the rest of the year.
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