A judge is expected to rule Monday morning on a request to delay the landmark trial of Philadelphia priests accused of conspiring to cover up clergy sex abuse.
Opening statements had been scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in a third-floor courtroom at the city's criminal justice center.
But lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan said that publicity over last week's unexpected guilty plea by a third defendant might have tainted the jury.
They have asked Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina to consider picking a new jury - a process that could take weeks - or to question the 12 jurors and 10 alternates individually to ensure they haven't been unduly influenced.
