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| You can't touch me. I am in West Virginia. Sanctuary!!!
Out of state witness Monsignor Michael Quirk is not available per
West Virginia judge who does not think that Philly Child Abuse trial has
anything to do with West Virginia. Duh!
According to Blessington, an unnamed West Virginia judge has
balked at honoring the district attorney's "material-witness
petition" for Msgr. Michael Quirk, one of three church judges who heard
the 2008 canonical trial of Brennan on child sex-abuse charges.
Brennan is a defendant in the Philadelphia criminal trial
for the rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996, an assault he has denied.
On trial with Brennan is Msgr. William J. Lynn, who as
secretary for clergy of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004 was
responsible for investigating allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests.
Lynn is the first church official to be criminally charged with enabling or
covering up the allegations.
The prosecution in the trial, now in its fourth week,
maintains that the Philadelphia Catholic Church had a long-standing pattern of
trying to avoid scandal at the expense of the priests' past or future victims.
As part of the trial, Blessington has said he wants to
present testimony from Quirk about Brennan's testimony during the 2008
canonical trial.
Although the canonical trial was in Philadelphia, Quirk is
assigned to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., where he is judicial
vicar and assistant to Bishop Michael J. Bransfield.
A week ago, prosecutors approached Sarmina at the end of a
trial session and asked for her to write asking the West Virginia judge to
honor the petition from a Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court.
Although state court subpoenas usually have no effect on
other state's courts, they are often honored as a matter of courtesy among
judges.
The West Virginia judge has apparently decided that Quirk's
testimony would not rise to the level of being a "material witness"
and has not honored the petition.
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