BishopAccountability.org
	Court Reverses N.J. Priest’s Child Molestation Conviction By Arthur S. Leonard Gay City News [New Jersey] April 27, 2006 http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_517/legalbriefs.html A three-judge panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division has reversed an aggravated criminal sexual contact conviction of a Catholic priest, referred to in court papers as Michael F., on the ground that the jury was improperly exposed to testimony about his sexual orientation. Michael was arrested in 2001, on charges that he had sexually abused the teenage son of a parishioner, in social situations in which the boy claimed sexual physical contact, but which the priest said were innocuous. The jury convicted Michael, who claimed several trial errors on appeal, among them that the trial judge should have excluded from evidence a statement he made to the police upon his arrest that he is homosexual and struggling with his identity. The appeals panel agreed that it was inappropriate to admit this evidence, writing, "The balance between probative value and undue prejudice to the accused tipped in favor of defendant… The admission of this statement injected into this case the specter of a jury deciding defendant's guilt on the unfounded association between homosexuality and pedophilia." The appellate court noted that the trial judge reminded the jury that Michael is gay. The case has been sent back to Bergen County Superior Court for retrial.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.