BOSTON, May 10 – In a surprising about-face, a Massachusetts judge today barred attorneys questioning Cardinal Bernard F. Law from releasing transcripts of the remainder of his deposition, including today's closed session at Boston archdiocese headquarters.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney had allowed transcripts to be distributed immediately when Law's deposition began Wednesday, and gave no reason today for her change of mind. The ruling gives Law 30 days after his testimony is completed to review the entire transcript, after which time it can be made public.
Law is being deposed in civil lawsuits brought by alleged victims of sexual abuse by ex-priest and convicted pedophile John J. Geoghan. The plaintiffs accuse Law and the archdiocese of negligence in supervising Geoghan. Questioning is scheduled to resume Monday.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for 86 plaintiffs and their families, told reporters he was disappointed in the ruling, but called it "standard operating procedure."
"You can read what you want into it, but they're acting within their rights," he said. "[The cardinal] is not being given any special treatment."
Garabedian declined comment on today's session, although no gag order is in place. But Patrick McSorley, an alleged Geoghan victim who attended the deposition, said Law did not reveal any new information today.
"It's despicable because he's still holding back on us," McSorley, who refused to shake Law's hand at the beginning of today's proceedings, told reporters. "I want to know the truth, and I can't seem to get it out of him."
The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the Boston archdiocese, told the Associated Press that Law was generally unhappy with the saturation media coverage.
"They wanted to control how much spin was out there," Coyne said of the plaintiffs' attorneys.
The judge also may have been exasperated by plaintiffs' attorneys, who have released numerous case documents and maintained a high profile in the press, said Jack Moscardelli, a veteran Boston trial lawyer and former chairman of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Committee.
"Everything about this case has been unusual in terms of procedure," he said. "Maybe the judge just felt enough was enough."
The submission of the nation's senior Roman Catholic prelate to questions about sex and money is the latest remarkable chapter in an unfolding church crisis that started here with the Geoghan case. Even as Law was deposed this week, bail was reduced today to $300,000 from $750,000 for Paul Shanley, a former local "street priest" accused of child rape, and New Hampshire Bishop John McCormack said Thursday he would not resign despite growing questions about his role in the scandal.
During the first day of questioning, Law said under oath that he did not recall specific warning correspondence about Geoghan and counted on others to handle the troubled priest without his following up. Law also said he was sure he had relied on medical advice.
Plaintiffs' attorney Michael O'Donnell said the cardinal provided similar answers today, when attorneys had also planned to probe Law about the abrupt rejection of the archdiocese's multimillion-dollar settlement with Geoghan victims.
"He responded that the management tools he had in place was the trust and confidence he put in his subordinates," O'Donnell told reporters.