The State of Ohio filed its response to Gerald Robinson's appeal, going point-by-point in rebutting the priest's lawyers' claims that he did not receive a fair trial.
The document is more than 80 pages of text plus photos of the murder weapon, altar cloth, and other pertinent items of evidence.
I find the state's brief to be extremely well written and throrough, with a few choice words that are legally polite and correct but for people familiar with legal briefs will recognize as pointedly sharp. I don't have time now to go into details now but willl try to post some of the more interesting points shortly. In the meantime, the straight news story I wrote for today's paper can be read here .
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Secondly, Father David Nuss is back in the news. Bishop Leonard Blair of the Toledo Catholic diocese has appointed Father Nuss associate pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Sandusky, Ohio, a church with more than 6,300 members.
You may remember Father Nuss from the controversy that made the news in July. He is a Toledo diocesan priest who stepped down from his new post as pastor of St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg after news reports surfaced that he had an "inappropriate" but "consensual" affair with a woman.
He had been picked by the bishop to lead St. Rose, an 8,100-member parish that had been the center of a storm of controversy involving its previous pastor, Rev. Thomas Leyland, who said he was forced into retirement by Bishop Blair for criticizing the bishop in public. A large number of parishioners rallied around Leyland (older brother of Detroit Tigers' manager Jim Leyland) but the bishop refused to budge and Leyland did retire.
Then the information about Fr. Nuss' affair surfaced and Nuss decided to take a sabbatical. I started getting calls from people that Father Nuss was serving at St. Mary's about a month ago, but the appointment was officially announced Friday Dec. 14 and effective Dec. 13. The bishop made the announcement with a single sentence, not addressing any of the controversy or explaining whether Father Nuss had undergone counseling or therapy or whatever.
I am hoping that the people of St. Mary's Parish got a little more information and perhaps some reassurance about their new priest, not just a one-sentence announcement that was sent to the media. Maybe Bishop Blair held a town hall meeting in Sandusky or sent a letter to parishioners that the media were not aware of.
In a strange twist, St. Mary's pastor, Father Philip Feltman, was removed from ministry in January, 2003, for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl years earlier. But the Vatican in July, 2003, ordered the priest reinstated, without elaborating.
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My series on Toledo-area Muslims ran yesterday and today. I think it turned out pretty well. I only had a couple of nasty calls and emails from Muslim-haters. Here's a link to the stories:
Day 1
Day 1 sidebar
Day 2
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That's enough news for today... Meanwhile, hearty Ohioans are stocking up on food supplies and other necessities because it looks like a big storm is heading our way. Maybe we'll have a white Christmas this year.
Toledo, Ohio
Dec. 15, 2007