Posted on 04/25/2004 7:29:09 AM PDT by csvset
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Wednesday, March 2, 2005,Q: Why is one of the two polygraph tests more important now than it was back in 1980?Lawyer: Priest didn't fail polygraph
1st lie detector test after nun's slaying called inconclusiveBy John Seewer
The Associated PressTOLEDO - An attorney who once represented a Roman Catholic priest accused of killing a nun in 1980 said claims that the priest failed a lie detector test were wrong.
The attorney, Henry Herschel, sought on Tuesday to dispute court documents released a day earlier that included allegations that the Rev. Gerald Robinson failed one of two polygraph tests days after the killing.
The priest took two tests, and the first one produced results that could not determine whether Robinson was telling the truth, Herschel said.
The examiner who gave the test noted that Robinson needed to be in a calmer state, Herschel said, adding that Robinson had just spent several hours being questioned by police.
Another examiner, who administered the second test a few months later, determined that Robinson was probably telling the truth.
According to a court document filed by investigators, Robinson failed the first test and passed the second one.
Robinson, 66, was an initial suspect in the killing of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl during Easter weekend in 1980, but he was not arrested until last April - after police reopened the case.
(... snip ...)
A: Because the prosecution is pretty desperate after having blown a "ritualistic" murder case against a good and faithful priest out from the thin air. There is nothing more they have against Fr. Robinson except for one phony "lie-detector" test 25 years ago.
Correction:
Because the prosecution and the media are pretty desperate after having blown a "ritualistic" murder case against a good and faithful priest out from the thin air.
I praised the Toledo Blade prematurely.
It published an editorial (link & text below) on March 3, 2005 in which it unfairly and completely assassinated the character of Fr. Robinson. Now, finally, a good and faithful priest of many decades who wouldn't hurt anyone looks like a murderer. And no, it wasn't because of any new evidence discovered against Fr. Robinson, but because of shyster journalists.
Note, how the two lie-detector tests of 1980 are differently presented now in the 03/03/05 editorial,
[...]Beside the fact that "lie-detectors" are good for Star Trek and perhaps for Toledo Blade editors, but not for the Court of Law, the actual documented account of the two 1980 tests is such that the first one was "inconclusive" and the second was positive. Now the Toledo Blade editorial presented them untruthfully, making their editors perfect candidates for a polygraph test session with the addition of generous electro-shocks for lying. :-DCompounding the issue is the sworn statement by a Toledo detective in unsealed court documents that Father Robinson failed one of two lie detector tests - the second was deemed inconclusive - in 1980. The test result showed that "deception" was indicated and that Father Robinson was involved in the nun's murder, Toledo police say.
[...]
I would like to ask this rhetorical question again, What is so special about the 1980 lie-detector tests on Fr. Robinson now that wasn't back then, when the murder of the nun was committed???????????????
The only answer that comes to my mind is that there is absolutely nothing else in the whole case that would possibly indicate Fr. Robinson as the killer.
The word frequently abused by the media to add spice to its b.s. is "ritualistic." There was nothing "ritualistic" about the killing. The killer covered the nun's body with an altar cloth and that is where the whole "ritualistic" part begins and ends. The simple explanation of his "ritual" is that since the murder took place in a sacristy where there are altar clothes stored, and the killer wanted to conceal his crime until he had left the hospital building, he grabbed what was available and used it.
The best for last, the editorial itself:
Toledo Blade EditorialArticle published Thursday, March 3, 2005
A church in crisis
THIS is a tough time to be a Catholic in Toledo. Sexual abuse by priests has rocked the church to its foundation, nationally and locally. Another priest is charged with murdering a nun in a bizarre ritualistic crime 25 years ago at a local hospital. Dwindling enrollment and membership has forced the bishop to close several schools and churches.So it would seem foolish to aggravate the substantial public relations damage that has already been done to the Catholic Diocese of Toledo by engaging in conduct that suggests the church has been less than forthcoming in the police investigation of the slaying in 1980 of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, or in the broader inquiry into criminal activity in the diocese.
But Toledo police believe they have been stymied in their attempts to examine all records pertaining to Father Gerald Robinson, who is accused of the murder.
Authorities believe that information and files have been withheld perhaps out of a sense of obligation to Canon 489 of the Catholic Church, which requires that a secret archive be maintained for the storage of records related to allegations of crimes committed by clerics.
Compounding the issue is the sworn statement by a Toledo detective in unsealed court documents that Father Robinson failed one of two lie detector tests - the second was deemed inconclusive - in 1980. The test result showed that "deception" was indicated and that Father Robinson was involved in the nun's murder, Toledo police say.
Fr. Michael Billian, episcopal vicar and the diocese's top administrator, says that no such secret files exist, though that would place the diocese in direct conflict with Canon 489. Father Billian insists that secrecy doesn't square with the diocese's "new policy of transparency."
But if that is so, the church's definition of transparency doesn't agree with law enforcement's, or ours. Indeed, suspicions were fueled when the diocese, during the execution of a search warrant by investigators, failed to mention the existence of a Father Robinson file but produced it after the arrival of legal counsel Thomas Pletz.
If other damaging records exist, we are concerned that the failure of the church to provide them and the failure of authorities to seize them only further undermines the church. The natural suspicion is that the passage of time leads to the disappearance of records.
It is lamentable that Toledo Police detectives felt they had to take the extraordinary step of seeking two search warrants, two days apart, to get information bearing on the Robinson case. Certainly it can be fairly inferred that their earlier requests for all relevant materials had not been met.
And it is regrettable as well that the detectives, upon discovery of a file related to sex abuse cases, did not immediately seek a third warrant which would have permitted them to seize it.
At a time when the church's image is badly shaken, the diocese should not make a bad situation worse. It can only help itself if it produces and releases any and all materials related to the commission of possible crimes. If, as it claims, it has already done so, why did the police feel the need for a search warrant?
The Catholic Diocese of Toledo is already in crisis mode. Reluctance to sincerely embrace its own declared policy of "transparency" only speeds its departure from the traditional values of the Church.
Psychopaths often pass lie detector tests with flying colors.
Are you saying that lie-detectors can be used only on those who tell the truth?
Don't make much sense to me.
There is one kind of test that never fails. And I have the feeling that you may like it.
In the good old days a woman accused of witchcraft was tested in the following way: she was tied up and dunked in deep waters - if she floated, she was guilty of being a witch; if she drowned, she was innocent.
So, does Pope Benedict XVI know about the Robinson case, and if he does, what is he going to do about it?
Throughout this thread alone you'd find different contradictory "news" reports in the media. It appears that the more outrageous allegations the more newsworthy they are. Fair and balanced. We report you decide. This is your "transparency" in the media.
does Pope Benedict XVI know...
What would the Pope know about this case? What do you, or anybody else knows? Other than there was a good Catholic priest put in jail in 2004 for a 1980 murder because da experts suddenly noticed something in their evidence locker which they have not noticed before.
In the meantime Michael Jackson goes FREE!
Taking teenage boys to a 40-year-old's bed is not a crime.
When is Robinson's trial?
Don't despair...he may get a jury like the one Michael Jackson had.
Interesting that Dr. Henry Lee has been consulted on this case:
Mr. Lee, who studied the autopsy and police reports, said Sister Pahl appeared to have been attacked from behind, her killer strangling her until she was unconscious. While on the floor and still breathing, she was stabbed in the face, neck, and through the altar cloth covering her upper body.
He said the assailant made a deliberate "pattern in the stab wounds," possibly resembling a cross, but declined to give further details.
"What we do is look at everything, the pattern, the marks left by the weapon,'' said Mr. Lee, who has testified in several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995.
Two people recently interviewed by police said investigators were comparing the pattern of the wounds to a cross.
"They wanted to know about the shapes of older crosses used by the church in the past," said the Rev. Stephen Stanbery, a pastor in the Toledo diocese.
Local priests recently interviewed by police said investigators are trying to determine if a cross actually was placed over the altar cloth and the killer stabbed her along its outline.
Detectives also have been interviewing local clerics about a second possible weapon - a stylus, a sharp instrument used by priests to carve crosses into the Pascal candle during Holy Saturday services - that may have been used the day Sister Pahl was killed.
--Toledo Blade
Hearing requested in nun’s 1980 death
Review of priest’s statements soughtAttorneys for the Rev. Gerald Robinson have asked for a hearing in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to resolve questions about statements the priest gave to police in 1980.
The request was among the motions filed in the murder trial of Father Robinson, who is accused in the fatal stabbing death of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on Easter weekend 1980 in a chapel at the former Mercy Hospital near downtown Toledo.
Defense attorneys who are representing the priest want to know whether police taped an interview with Father Robinson on April 18, 1980, or if they have supplemental notes, reports, or summaries of his statements.
The motion said a hearing was needed, in part, for the court to review whether Father Robinson’s constitutional rights were violated or if any irregularities occurred that would be grounds for having the case dismissed.
Judge Thomas Osowik had given attorneys until tomorrow to file motions in the case. A trial for Father Robinson, 67, is scheduled for April 17 [2006].
Sister Margaret Ann was found stabbed and strangled in the chapel’s sacristy. Father Robinson was arrested in April, 2004, after investigators reopened the case.
In response to a similar request from defense attorneys, prosecutors last month denied in a motion that the interview conducted by then-Detective Art Marx was taped.
Attorneys for Father Robinson also asked the court to suppress statements he gave to police when he was arrested at his home in 2004. In addition, they’re challenging the qualifications of certain witnesses prosecutors intend to use at trial.
A pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for tomorrow, when Judge Osowik could make a decision on whether to hold a hearing on the motions.
Accused priest tried to blame someone elseFirst of all, the interrogation of 1980 was never properly recorded by the police. This new revelation about Fr. Robinson's alleged lie is what the investigator claims to have recalled from 1980.By John Seewer
TOLEDO - A priest accused of stabbing a nun to death in 1980 told authorities shortly after the killing that someone else had confessed to killing the woman, an investigator said Friday during a pretrial hearing.
The priest later told investigators that he had lied about the confession because he wanted to deflect a police detective's accusatory tone during an interrogation 26 years ago, said Tom Ross, an investigator with the Lucas County Prosecutor's office.
/... /
There is not a word if Fr. Robinson confirms or denies his alleged "lie" about the confession.
The common-sense question is, if he had lied in the first place why would he have corrected it now if he indeed were the killer? What good does it for him?
This "news" report (and especially its sleazy title, "tried to blame someone else") is below any standards of journalistic decency. John Seewer is a typical bigoted anti-Catholic presstitute.
Besides, none of these "new revelations" make Rev. Robinson more of a suspect.
Witnesses revealed for homicide trialThe prosecution is desperate. On their witness list they included a nun who was allegedly sexually abused as a young girl by a priest (see the bolded print).
(the author's name not published)
Priest's case includes forensic experts
A nationally known forensic expert and a forensic anthropologist who inspired the FOX television show Bones are among the witnesses who could testify in the homicide trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson.
With the trial nearly two months away, prosecutors and defense attorneys yesterday revealed in court documents the names of more than 100 potential witnesses, giving the two sides notice about who may appear as witnesses.
Father Robinson, 67, is accused in the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
The murder, which occurred in the chapel at the former Mercy Hospital near downtown Toledo, has attracted national attention.
The prosecution list of witnesses includes renowned forensic expert Henry Lee, who has assisted police around the country in more than 6,000 investigations and has testified in several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995.
In December, 2004, Mr. Lee visited Toledo and examined evidence in the case. He visited the sacristy where the 71-year-old nun was stabbed and he studied the letter opener believed to be the murder weapon.
A list provided to the court by the defense includes Kathleen Reichs, a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina. She is a frequent witness in criminal trials around the country.
She is the best-selling author of four mystery novels, and Bones, an investigative drama on the FOX network, is based on the characters and criminal investigations in her books.
Additional witnesses include other forensic experts, retired police officers who were involved in the original investigation, state Bureau of Identification and Investigation specialists, clerics, and nuns who are members of Sister Margaret Ann's order, including her own sister, Sister Laura Marie Pahl.
The prosecution's list of 96 witnesses also includes Sister Ann-Marie Borgess, a Notre Dame nun who has accused a former priest of sexually assaulting her when she was a young girl at St. Pius X Church in West Toledo. She has spoken in support of victims of priest abuse.
The defrocked priest, Chet Warren, who was never charged, also is among the people who was identified by prosecutors as a possible witness.
The list filed by Father Robinson's attorneys contained fewer names, and more than a dozen of the witnesses were also identified as prosecution witnesses.
L.J. Dragovic, Oakland County, Michigan medical examiner, is listed among the defense witnesses.
Judge Thomas Osowik ordered the attorneys to file the witness lists during a hearing Friday on unrelated pending motions in the case. He gave them until yesterday to file the information.
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