Defrocked Priest to Get New Trial
By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:13:16 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Posted on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:13:16 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
In Baltimore, a court has thrown out the conviction of a defrocked priest in a sex abuse trial:
Less than two months after he was convicted of molesting a boy who later shot him, defrocked priest Maurice Blackwell was granted a new trial by a judge who said testimony about other alleged victims was inappropriate.
In a case where "credibility is a critical issue," Circuit Judge Stuart R. Berger wrote, the witnesses "improperly attempted to enhance the credibility of the state's critical witness by injecting references to other victims."
Too bad Michael Jackson isn't being tried in Maryland. California's Rule 1108 does nothing but inject unfairness into the proceedings. More on Jackson and the prior accusers here, here and here.
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