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	Church Wants Judge off Abuse Cases By Kevin O'Connor Rutland Herald [Vermont] May 12, 2006 http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060512/NEWS/60511001/1002 Vermont's Catholic Church wants the judge who oversaw a record $965,000 priest misconduct settlement to be barred from presiding over 19 similar lawsuits. In a motion that will be filed as early as today, church attorney David Cleary is expected to claim Chittenden Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph's rulings have jeopardized the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese's ability to receive a fair trial. As a result, the church wants Joseph to recuse himself from all its future cases or be removed by the state's chief administrative judge. "The diocese has great concern over the lack of a level playing field," Cleary said in an interview. "We're not trying to hide anything. We're trying to keep prejudice from building." But Jerome O'Neill, the lawyer representing all 20 men accusing clergy of sexual abuse, says the church, facing a file cabinet of evidence against it, is simply "shooting the messenger." "The diocese doesn't like the judge's rulings, but that's not a basis to disqualify someone," O'Neill said. "If the diocese isn't happy, it has the right to appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court." On April 19, Joseph gaveled in the start of the first priest misconduct trial - the civil case of Michael Gay, 38, of South Burlington versus the Rev. Edward Paquette - only to be asked by Cleary and O'Neill for a closed-door meeting. Twenty minutes later, Joseph emerged to announce the church had settled the case with Gay. The judge then lifted a gag order that had prohibited lawyers from talking publicly and allowed the attorneys to explain the $965,000 agreement with several reporters present. Cleary claims the judge's removal of the gag order led to a torrent of news reports about the church admitting it knew Paquette had molested boys in two states when it assigned him to parishes in Rutland in 1972, Montpelier in 1974 and Burlington in 1976. Because the diocese faces 14 more lawsuits against Paquette alone, Cleary questions how the church will find an impartial jury to hear future cases. "That is not the only action of this judge that concerns my client," Cleary added. "It's one of many." Cleary, however, confirmed that he spoke freely to reporters after the judge lifted the gag order. He also acknowledged that fellow church lawyer William O'Brien gave reporters a half-dozen confidential letters from court files after reproducing the paperwork on the court's copier. "Paquette had authorized his reports to be disclosed," Cleary said. He added that O'Neill, who distributed dozens of church letters that showed the diocese long knew of the priest's pedophilia, wasn't presenting the whole story. "You're between a rock and a hard place - what do you do?" Cleary said of the church's own release of information. O'Neill, for his part, says all the letters would have come out had the case gone to trial. "It only was because the court indicated that the documents would be public once the case was resolved that Michael Gay would settle his case before trial," O'Neill wrote in a recent memo to the court. "Defendant diocese has for over 30 years carefully shielded from public view its odious conduct as it relates to the sexual molestation of children by some of its priests," O'Neill continued. "If the information had been public earlier, it is likely the conduct would have stopped many, many years sooner." (In a separate development, Joseph this week barred lawyers from releasing any information "that identifies non-plaintiff alleged victims" in the Gay case or "any alleged priest-perpetrator of child sexual abuse." The temporary order comes in response to Vermont news organizations seeking to review court records pertaining to 18 other priests accused of misconduct.) The diocese's call for the judge's recusal will go first to Joseph. If he agrees to step down, the matter is settled. If not, the motion goes to the state's chief administrative judge, Amy Davenport, who will make a final decision. The diocese faces 14 more lawsuit against Paquette, as well as one case each involving former Vermont priest James Dunn; James McShane, the subject of a $120,000 settlement in 2004; George Paulin, the subject of a $20,000 settlement in 2003; and two cases against Alfred Willis, the subject of a $150,000 settlement in 2004. Cleary said the church was willing to settle the remaining cases. "We are always receptive," Cleary said. "Any legitimate victim has an absolute right to fair and reasonable compensation under the law." The diocese, however, doesn't have insurance for such lawsuits. It has taken out loans to cover the $965,000 settlement, increasing its current budget deficit to more than $1 million. Contact Kevin O'Connor at kevin.oconnor@rutlandherald.com.
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