Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Father Andy Jury At Impasse

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Shortly before 3 p.m. today the jury in the Father Andy sex abuse trial sent a note to the judge saying they were at an impasse and could not reconcile their differences.

When the jury assembled in front of Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright, she asked if there was any confusion in their minds about the law that she could address.

"I do not believe so," the jury foreman said.

The judge asked if the jury were to continue deliberating was there any chance that they could reach a unanimous verdict?

"I would not believe so," the foreman said.

The judge instructed the jury to try again.

She told them they had only been deliberating for a total of 14 hours over three days. But she cautioned the jurors not to do anything that would "do violence to their individual judgement" or force them to surrender their "honest convictions."

So the jury filed out of the courtroom. Within the hour, the jury sent another note to the judge that said they had reached "the end of our discussion for today," the judge said.

It was 4 o'clock; court usually runs until 4:30 but the judge relented and sent the jury home early for the day.

If the jury deadlocks it would be the second time. Last March, the jury in Father Andy's first trial deadlocked after four and a half days. He's accused of sexually abusing a former 10-year-old altar boy back in 1997.

Tomorrow, the jury is scheduled to resume deliberations starting at 9:30 a.m.

Father Andrew McCormick spent the afternoon praying with his supporters, and sitting quietly in the hallway outside Courtroom 1102 at the Criminal Justice Center.

The alleged victim wasn't there for a second straight day but his mother was. So was his father and grandfather.

Since there's a gag order in the case nobody can say anything.

The vigil on both sides resumes tomorrow.

36 comments

  1. Somebody(s) must be choking on that annoying little "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" requirement.

    Damn that conscious!

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  2. Deadlocked Jury. Not a good thing for McCormick. I am sure this young victim can resume with his life and with the right therapy heal in the end. McCormick on the other hand without the not guilty verdict will always be questioned by others of his innocence. His ability to return to the church and resume priestly duties is over. Any application for employment will be red-flagged. He will live his life in limbo. He may have avoided a prison cell, but will he truly be free ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This kid is a fraud, out for the money in the end.

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    2. Blackstone's Formulation/Ratio prevails.

      The phony concern about McCormick's well-being is 'quaint'- isn't it?

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    3. So true, nice to see his parents are working hard during the week.

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    4. Would you not be there if something awful happened to someone you loved? If his parents weren't there, you would be shaming them for not being there.

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    5. And where is Jane doe? back in nyc? So distraught and in need of help he takes the first train back?

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    6. his grandfather Pops probably molested him. Statistically all individuals who are molested are usually molested by one of their family members.

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    7. I am a McCormick supporter but believe that you've crossed the line in stating that his grandfather molested him. The kid is just screwed up and has his family believing his lies.

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  3. I think you are wrong, anonymous 5:52. There may be those who question his innocence but after two mistrials, what more can be done legally speaking? Once all of the criminal proceedings have finished, the Archdiocesan Review Board will take a look at his case and make a determination concerning his suitability for public ministry. I think he has an excellent chance of returning to public ministry albeit in a limited fashion. Will he truly be free? Absolutely because his conscience is clear...he knows that he never harmed this disturbed young man. He has the freedom of all the sons of God who walk in the light of the truth.

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  4. Once again everything concerning the trial was not able to be revealed. That is because our great system of justice.There are so many laws pertaining to how evidence can be presented that we never get to see all the facts. People reading this column can only comment on what is said in court. It is what is not able to be said that would shed the light of truth to this trial. Seems only winning counts lets not let truth get in the way.

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  5. You forget McCormick was removed from ministry prior to these accusations regarding this case. One thing I give the archdiocese is they do listen to the lawyers. Do you really think they are telling Chaput to welcome McCormick back with open arms. He's to much of a risk. One accusation true or not will put the archdiocese at the defendant's table, and with the Pope coming to town I'm sure Chaput does not want to create waves. In short without that not guilty verdict McCormick is screwed

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  6. Lets look at the track record of DA vs Philly clergy.

    4 wins 0 loses 1 tie

    Not Bad Seth

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    Replies
    1. No one wins when liars being supported by the state are permitted to persecute innocents.

      By any means, right Saul Alinsky?

      Until they knock on your door....

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    2. Like i said earlier till the Church and The law put there personal issues a side a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt here and the real culprits who deserve to be prosecuted are gonna slip threw the cracks. Because when the system refuses to thouroughly get the facts and the church holds back info the innocent suffer not to mention the true Victims.

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    3. These persecutions of the Catholic Church are just massive redistribution of wealth schemes run by the state, as driven by secular ideology that is openly hostile to Christians, but especially Catholics. It is why the state does not venture where the true culprits and their ignored victims are- the public schools.

      The first thing the Church has to stop doing is cooperating with this evil- a good place to start would be to suspend the PC-driven Zero Tolerance policy. Presuming guilt based only upon an accusation sans any evidence is feeding the frenzy.

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  7. Jae, don't you have something you could be doing today away from the computer. Go to church and say a prayer or two, maybe light a candle. How about going to the rectory and asking a priest why did the church attempt to cover-up abusive priests, why did the church move around abusive priests so they could torture again, why are priests facing trials every year ? Then ask why do they think priests are no longer respected, and why when one goes to trial they are presumed guilty before innocent.

    You come back then tells us the answers you receive. The one answer I will not accept is your priests or you telling us people are ignorant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You and your bigoted cohorts are ignorant. The evidence of where the majority of minor abuse occurs is irrefutable-not even the secularized and/or leftists can deny those facts.

      I've relied on published facts (aka evidence) to draw my conclusions, yet your questions, and your position still reflect your reliance on ignoring facts. You rely on emotion (hate) to condemn innocents.

      Chase your own tail- it's not really a team sport, anyway.

      Have fun there, Fido.

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    2. Anonymous at 10:48: The problem with your stance is that it denies a foundational principle of American jurisprudence: that every man is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The fact that McCormick has twice been tried on the same charges and that it looks like this jury will stay deadlocked and another mistrial will be declared says that there were those jurors who did not buy this kid's story and there were other jurors who wished to convict simply because McCormick is a priest as there was NO EVIDENCE of a crime.

      As far as priests no longer being respected, perhaps there is some truth in that statement to a degree. However, my parish priest is a great man and well loved by his parishioners. I suspect that other practicing Catholics in parishes other than mine feel the same way towards their priests. The bigots never respected priests and the scandal simply gave them the "excuse" to be blatant in their bigotry.

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  8. "Minor Abuse" Are you put here on this blog to piss people off ? I will have to share with you the video on YouTube that shows a priest who was convicted of that minor abuse as you call it get beaten to death by another inmate.

    Minor abuse, that's all it was then too. Another inmate giving his cell mate love taps !

    Don't monkey with Fido when he is showing his teeth, you might end up getting bit.

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    Replies
    1. You've added nothing useful to this discussion as you don't understand that by "minor abuse" the poster was not referring to degrees of abuse but rather to the fact that anyone who abuses a "Minor" (including someone who has passed through puberty)
      and not simply someone who abused a pre-pubscient child should be prosecuted.

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    2. It's a challenge when you have to undertake remedial education to educate the secular-progressive reeducated.

      It's the failure of the US educational system, which only serves to produce loyal little slaves, servants and sycophants of the state, that we lag so far behind the rest of the worlds first nations.

      What a sad joke our great nation has become.

      But, it need not be permanent. We just need to push back on the generation of insanity from the left and reclaim our rightful place- first among righteous, moral nations.

      Let's start by righting the wrongs in our justice system- those that were especially designed to assault the Catholic Church.

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    3. Don't try to be profound as JB is in his words. We maybe on different sides of the road but his words make sense. You, your words make you sound like an idiot.

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  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjkHXDtoXAo

    What stands out in this video is not the violence that is happening behind those cell doors, but if you watch the video you will see 10 prison guards standing around doing nothing. The same way the catholic church stood around and did nothing knowing children were being abused. No person should die the way this priest was killed but no child should be raped by clergy.

    This trial is just one out of many we seen in the past, present and sadly future. I can accept a mistrial, I can even accept an innocent verdict but can the pro-pedophile group accept a guilty verdict ? We know the answer to that as being no. The jury was corrupt, the DA did not play fair, and the judge was corrupt. I would like to thank the jury for their time in this case while others like Jae would want to condemn them if the verdict is not what he wants to hear.

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  10. Even those cases with actual evidence produce wrongful convictions under our currently politicized justice system. Imagine what the stats would be for those cases not requiring any evidence?

    http://www.innocenceproject.org/causes-wrongful-conviction

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  11. As the late retired judge DeFino is no longer on the DA's payroll and able to flit around the courtroom as he did in the Engelhardt / Shero trial, perhaps Father Andy will prevail.

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  12. I will say it is safe to assume since we have not heard from court this case will end in a mistrial most likely because of a hung jury. However, this does not end the problems for Rev. McCormick since this case ended in a mistrial he can be retried without affecting the defendants fifth amendment right protecting him from double jeopardy.

    Stay Tuned.

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    Replies
    1. In the event of a mistrial, I doubt very much that the DA would have the unmitigated gall (i.e. the 'balls') to try Father McCormick again - at the taxpayers' expense, no less. While there are no fifth amendment protections, the statements made to the police and the testimonies given in the previous cases can still be used to refute the gay guy's allegations - and the outcome would most likely be the same.

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  13. Are you homosexual ? No matter what point your trying to get across why do you talk about another mans "balls" ? You talk like you have been beaten in the face by balls. Get a taffy instead.

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  14. 4:52 PM The sexual abuse case involving Rev. Andrew McCormick has officially ended in a mistrial. The DA has not decided if they will retry the case.

    I got it for you Ralph. Take the night off.

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  15. Suspended since 2011 by the archdiocese for his behavior around children. That's plural folks, not child but children. he needs to end up back in court no matter how many times it takes.

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  16. The Archdiocese never stated why Fr. Andy was put on leave. It is presumptuous on your part to state that he was suspended because of his behavior around children. This is simply not true. Perhaps you may not be concerned about the city wasting resources but as a tax payer I am concerned. You lack any proportion in your response.

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  17. He has been suspended from the church since 2011 over complaints about his behavior around children.

    As stated by WPVI Philadelphia today 3/11/15

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I repeat that the Archdiocese never stated that he was accused of any misbehavior with minors. See for yourself. Here is their statement from last year. Read the first paragraph carefully. http://archphila.org/press%20releases/pr002333.php
      News outlets are not always reliable in their coverage.

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    2. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story- especially if it's a story about how so 'very, very baaaaad' the Catholic Church is.

      Many 'news outlets' have become the gatekeepers of the leftist ideology, and nothing more.

      Delete

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