Diocesan Motions Denied, Central New York Trial Begins Monday

From The Living Church:

07/12/2007

The standing committee in the Diocese of Central New York on July 11 unanimously denied two motions made by the diocese, seeking a change of venue and termination of the current Title IV ecclesiastical court members in a presentment case against the Rev. David Bollinger, former rector of St. Paul’s Church, Owego. The trial is scheduled to begin July 16.

The two motions by the diocese arose out of a decision made by the presiding judge on May 29 to suppress the prosecution’s list of witnesses and most of its evidence against Fr. Bollinger after it still had not complied with a court-imposed deadline to submit the documents two weeks after the discovery deadline had elapsed. The diocese has also refused to make available a key piece of evidence, the so-called Shafer report, which had been requested by the defense and ordered to be delivered by Carter Strickland, the presiding judge.

Acting in its capacity as the diocesan review committee, the standing committee ruled that the diocese’s request for a change of venue and a declaration that the current court was vacant was not possible under the existing canons, which refer “only to the substantive construction of the court, not to the wisdom of the court’s procedural decisions.”

In 2002, Fr. Bollinger brought an allegation of sexual misconduct against a previous St. Paul’s rector to the attention of the Rt. Rev. Gladstone “Skip” Adams, Bishop of Central New York, and Fr. Bollinger persisted in calling attention to the case despite repeated admonitions from Bishop Adams to desist. In May 2005 Bishop Adams inhibited Fr. Bollinger, charging him with possible criminal misuse of his discretionary fund.

Ralph E. Johnson, the former rector of St. Paul’s accused by a victim of sexual misconduct, voluntarily renounced his orders the following year.

The Shafer report was commissioned by Bishop Adams after Fr. Bollinger alleged that the former diocesan controller, Gael Sopchak, had without Fr. Bollinger’s permission gained access to his personal retirement account information. The report is relevant because one of the charges in Bishop Adams’ presentment complaint is that Fr. Bollinger wrongly accused Ms. Sopchak of illegally obtaining access to his personal financial records.

The diocese previously released an executive summary of the report. On two separate occasions the ecclesiastical court has ordered the diocese to make the full report available to the defense.

Steve Waring