Man Acquitted In S. Bay Priest Beating Wants Clergyman Tried For Perjury
SAN JOSE (KCBS) - After a Santa Clara County jury found him not guilty, William Lynch wants the priest that allegedly molested him as a child to be charged with perjury.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office is said to be evaluating whether to file perjury charges against the Rev. Jerold Lindner.
On Thursday, a jury acquitted Lynch of felony assault and elder abuse charges, and deadlocked on a lesser charge of simple assault stemming from a 2010 attack on Lindner at a Los Gatos home for retired priests.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
Lynch said Lindner sexually abused him and his brother during a camping trip in 1975.
During opening arguments, the prosecution told jurors that Lindner is lying when he denies the molestation. When Lindner took the stand, he testified that he had not molested either boy. Lindner then invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify further.
"If this DA's office, which is so fond of talking about the rule of law, and how every case and the rule of law must be followed, then next week Jerold Lindner better be in handcuffs in this courthouse," declared defense attorney Pat Harris after his client's acquittal.
Molestation charges seemed out of the question because the statute of limitations has expired. The District Attorney's office was expected to make a decision shortly regarding possible perjury charges. Prosecutors said Thursday they were still evaluating the matter.
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