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Friday, January 22, 2010

Ind. Courts - More on "Priest abuse case hinges on 'repressed' memories"

This August 22, 2009 ILB entry discussed the trial then taking place before Judge David Dryer of Marion Superior Court, Civil 10. The trial is still going on, and Judge Dryer has now ruled on the reressed memory issue.

Today Robert King of the Indianapolis Star reports under the headline "Ruling in priest sex abuse case may set precedent: Judge will allow testimony about accuser's 'repressed memories.'" From the story:

A Marion County judge will let jurors hear testimony about the "repressed memories" of a man whose allegation of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest is based on memories so painful that experts say he lost access to them for decades.

The decision by Superior Court Judge David Dreyer could break new ground in Indiana. * * *

The case involves a man identified in court papers as John Doe RG. Now a 44-year-old business executive, he contends that, as a boy, he was repeatedly molested by former Indianapolis priest Harry Monroe while he was a parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church.

In 2005, the man filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis involving Monroe. Twelve other accusers followed with their own lawsuits, each arguing that the church kept Monroe's history of abuse hidden even as it moved him to new parishes and new victims.

So far the archdiocese has failed in its attempts to get the first three of the 13 cases tossed out. Dreyer ordered Wednesday that the repressed-memory case and a case involving a former altar boy at St. Catherine must go forward. Another judge ruled in 2007 that a third case should go forward. The trials should begin later this year.

None is likely to be as hotly contested as the repressed-memory case. Both sides have lined up Harvard University experts and others to testify about the validity of repressed memories.

Dreyer, who heard attorneys argue the matter in August, said expert testimony on repressed memory was reliable enough to let a jury decide how much weight to give it.

Attorney Pat Noaker, who represents all 13 plaintiffs and argued for the repressed-memory testimony, said the decision is in line with other cases across the country.

"The judge's decision may be the first of its kind in Indiana," he said. "However, it is consistent with what the majority of states have allowed. And that is to let repressed memory go to a jury."

Here is a list of earlier ILB entries on Harry Monroe.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 22, 2010 10:44 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts