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Diocese seeks delay in clergy sex abuse cases

June 26, 2008
By Sam Hemingway
Burlington Free Press Staff Writer

A lawyer for the state's Roman Catholic diocese has asked a judge to delay an upcoming clergy abuse trial until the Vermont Supreme Court rules on the church's appeal of an $8.7 million jury verdict from a similar case decided in May.

In papers filed at Chittenden County Superior Court in Burlington, diocesan attorney Kaveh Shahi said Judge Matthew Katz made errant rulings that led to the $8.7 million verdict.

Shahi argued it would be wrong to stage another trial until questions about the earlier case are resolved.

"The trial court has indicated that it will rule in the same manner," Shahi wrote in his court motion, referring to Katz, who also will preside over the upcoming case. "It is likely that the defendant is facing another substantial verdict."

Jerome O'Neill, an attorney representing 22 alleged victims of clergy abuse with cases pending at the Burlington court, said the diocese's request for a delay was a stalling tactic designed to discourage his clients from pursuing their claims.

The state Supreme Court is unlikely to rule on the diocese's appeal of the May verdict before late 2009.

"If the court grants a stay, those cases likely will be 3 1/2 to five years old before the next case is reached for trial," O'Neill wrote in a response to the church's delay request. "It would create an injustice to those whom the diocese now, reluctantly, admits its priests molested as children."

The case decided in May involved claims that the Rev. Edward Paquette fondled an altar boy at a Burlington church in the late 1970s and that the diocese knew Paquette was a repeat child molester when it hired him.

The next trial, scheduled to get under way Aug. 5, is another of 17 cases containing claims of child sexual abuse by Paquette. In all the cases, the alleged victims are former altar boys at parishes in Burlington and Montpelier. Paquette, who is retired and living in Massachusetts, is not a defendant in the cases.

The size of the May verdict stunned the diocese and prompted Bishop Salvatore Matano to warn that the $8.7 million damages award would have a "very serious impact" on the diocese's ability to fund its operations.

Shahi, in the diocese's request for a delay, said the diocese will argue before the Vermont Supreme Court that Katz ignored constitutional separations between church and state with his rulings during the May trial.

The church's motion also contends that Katz did not follow legal precedents when he allowed the jury to award punitive damages in the case. Of the $8.7 million awarded, $7.75 million was for punitive damages. The high court, in a 1999 case, set strict rules for the awarding of punitive damages.

Finally, Shahi wrote that a delay would allow the high court to decide whether it was fair for the diocese to face repeated punishment for the same alleged misdeeds.

"The question of potential exposure to multiple punitive awards for the same alleged wrong in 'Paquette cases' must be addressed," he wrote.

Katz, who is on vacation, is not expected to rule until mid-July on the diocese's request to delay the trial. O'Neill said in an interview Wednesday that he expects Katz will reject the church's request.

"They already made the request orally in chambers, and he denied it," O'Neill said. Shahi declined to discuss what he said was an informal discussion between the lawyers and the judge several weeks ago.

"I don't want to comment on that," Shahi said.
Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com