BARNSTABLE (MA)
Cape Cod Times [Hyannis MA]
June 6, 2024
By Zane Razzaq
Jury selection started on Thursday morning in the trial for the former Cape Cod priest charged with rape.
Mark Hession faces two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the clerk’s office. A count of intimidating a witness was dropped. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in January of 2021.
Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Halprin Isaacs will prosecute the case. Hession is represented by attorneys Frank C. Corso and Paolo G. Corso of Corso Law LLC.
The first pool of about 50 potential jurors filed into a Barnstable Superior Court courtroom where Judge Mark C. Gildea told them the details of the case.
Hession is alleged to have assaulted an individual with the “intent to commit rape and did commit rape upon such person” on multiple occasions between 2005 and 2008 in Barnstable County, according to the redacted indictments obtained by the Cape Cod Times.
At the time, Hession was the parish priest of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, where he served from 2000 to 2014.
Gildea also spoke about the importance of ensuring a fair trial.
‘Open mind’ needed, judge says
The court needs jurors who have an “open mind and have no reason to favor one side or the other,” said Gildea.
The judge also asked whether anyone knew the defendant or any of the lawyers, if they or someone close to them worked in law enforcement, or if they might gain or lose something with the outcome of the case.
When he asked whether anyone had already formed or expressed an opinion on the matter, a handful raised their hands.
After Gildea asked a series of questions to the group, he then asked potential jurors one at a time. He and attorneys on both sides determined whether each potential juror could be fair during the trial.
Some were excused for having themselves been assaulted and telling the judge it would impact their ability to be impartial. One dismissed juror said he grew up going to a Catholic church but pulled away following his dissatisfaction with how the church responded to sex abuse scandals.