Now that the appeals court has ruled so decisively against Father Gerald Robinson, upholding the 2006 guilty verdict, his next step is to take his appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Here is a copy of the article that ran yesterday at the top of page 1.
That court accepts only 8 to 9 percent of the cases submitted to it, according to John Donahue, Robinson's attorney.
In order for the Supreme Court to choose this case, it will have to involve something of broader legal interest than the highly unusual -- dare I say unique -- case of a priest who killed a nun, as Rick Kerger, another Robinson attorney, told me.
The issue his attorneys are hoping will catch the court's eye is whether the lapse of time between the crime and the arrest prevented a fair trial. With the plethora of cold-case arrests and trials, this does seem to be of potential interest, especially if, as I was told by Mr. Donahue and assume it is accurate, the court has not written about this since 1984 when cold-case arrests were less common.
Meanwhile, even if the supreme court does decide to accept the case, which is not a sure thing, it will be a minumum of six months and as much as two years before the 70-year-old priest will get another day in court.
The wheels of justice turn slowly, and when the criminal is in his 70s every month and year seems to be even more precious.
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I had a number of Robinson supporters tell me that I would have to apologize to the priest for what I've written, once he wins his appeal. Haven't heard from them since the ruling.
Of course, I would never apologize anyway because all I did was report what happened. I didn't convict him of murder, the legal system did.
But even though he lost his appeal, I'm sure there are people who are convinced the priest is still innocent. There's nothing that would possibly convince them otherwise. All they want to do is think of the good things he has done, the marriages and baptisms and sermons... They don't want to look at the other side, the one that was proven in a court of law, the side that they didn't see firsthand, that of a twisted killer.
There are times when I almost feel sorry for Robinson wasting away in prison but then I catch myself when I think of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl and how this devoted nun died such a horrific death.
I'm glad our judicial system is working.
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Toledo, Ohio
July 13, 2008