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	Trial of Priest Cost County at Least $56,000 Funds Seized in Other Cases Cover Much of Expenses By David Yonke Toledo Blade May 17, 2006 http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS02/605170355 The expenses in the murder trial of Toledo priest Gerald Robinson have topped $56,000 and the bills are still coming in, court officials said yesterday. Lucas County Common Pleas Court spent about $16,650 on the trial, starting with jury selection April 17 and ending May 11, when the 68-year-old priest was convicted in the 1980 ritual killing of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, according to Court Administrator Jean Atkin. The county Prosecutor's Office estimated its expenses at $38,000 including fees paid to expert witnesses including Henry Lee and Paulette Sutton, transportation, and other costs such as research, testing, and materials, according to Prosecutor Julia Bates. That figure does not include salaries of staff members who worked on the case, some of whom were involved from the time the Lucas County cold-case unit reopened the case in December, 2003. The prosecutors' funds come from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund Account, which is supported not with taxpayer dollars but by money seized from bond forfeitures, drug dealers, and other criminal activities, Ms. Bates said. "I really do believe that $38,000 is a small price to pay for justice in a 26-year-old case," she said, adding, "What is the cost of a life?" The Toledo Catholic Diocese did not pay any of the priest's legal fees. Alan Konop, John Thebes, John J. Callahan, and Nicole Khoury worked pro bono to defend Robinson, according to Jack Sparagowski, who helped raise $13,000 for Robinson's legal defense fund. That money went to expert witnesses and miscellaneous court expenses, he said. The biggest cost for the Common Pleas Court was $7,829 paid to jurors, Ms. Atkin said. The 12 jurors and four alternates were chosen from a pool of 99 people, each of whom was paid $10 for half a day's service and $20 for a full day's work. After 10 days of service, jurors are paid $30 a day, Ms. Atkin said. The cost of court deputies was $5,267, which includes 215 hours of overtime for additional staffing. An estimated $2,500 was spent on setting up a media room and moving the trial to a larger courtroom. One expense that was far less than usual was jury meals. The grand total was $15 for the jurors, who deliberated just over six hours. "We bought them [beverages] the one afternoon when they stayed for deliberations," Ms. Atkin said. "When they came back the next day, they didn't stay 'til lunch. It was a very accommodating group." In a civil suit pending against Robinson in Common Pleas Court, Mark A. Davis, attorney for the plaintiffs, said yesterday that the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits him from commenting on the case because he is running for judge. The woman and her husband who filed the suit allege that Robinson abused and tortured the woman when she was a child between 1968 and 1975. A pretrial hearing is set for June 5. Contact David Yonke at: dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154. Recent Related Articles • Reasonable Doubt Ample in Priest Trial • Was This a Ritual Murder? • Professional Handling of Murder Trial • Bishop's Letter Addresses Case of Convicted Cleric • Kirk - Gerald Robinson
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