Lawyers for Monsignor Lynn want Judge Sarmina to step down, citing abuse comment

Lawyers for the Philadelphia cleric accused of enabling priests to sexually abuse boys have asked the trial judge to step down, saying she compromised her impartiality when she said anyone who doubted there was "widespread" child abuse in the Catholic Church "is living on another planet."

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina's remark during a hearing last week suggested she "harbors a firm predisposed opinion against the Catholic Church and its representatives," the attorneys for Msgr. William J. Lynn argued in a motion filed Wednesday.

"Perhaps the court actually bears no biases. But that does not matter," lawyers Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy wrote. "What does matter is that the public's confidence in the court's impartiality is demonstrably undermined."

Sarmina's chambers said she would have no comment on the recusal motion, citing rules of conduct that bar judges from discussing their cases. She is expected to address it at a hearing Wednesday.

The filing is the latest salvo among prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the judge. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, faces a March 26 trial on endangerment and conspiracy charges, the first time a church official will be tried in an alleged cover-up of clergy sex abuse.

Prosecutors say he recommended two priests, James J. Brennan and Edward Avery, for parish assignments in the 1990s despite knowing or suspecting they would abuse children. Both men have been charged in separate incidents of molesting a boy. Avery has been defrocked; Brennan is in restricted ministry.

All three men have pleaded not guilty.

Sarmina's remark came during a Jan. 31 hearing in which she and the lawyers reviewed a questionnaire to be used when jury selection begins this month. One of the proposed questions read: Do you believe child sexual abuse is a widespread problem in the Catholic Church?

Sarmina ordered the question struck from the list, saying, "Anybody that doesn't think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet."

Later in the hearing, Sarmina said she was removing the question in deference to the defendants so jurors would not automatically associate them with child sex-abuse scandals in other dioceses.