Keywords by David Yonke

This story ran in the Australian newspaper and just came to my attention. Please read the last paragraph, which refers to the Robinson case. -- David
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Priest was a killer: victim

By Gary Hughes

May 26, 2006 12:15am

THE Catholic Church has accepted as substantially true allegations that a Melbourne priest took part in satanic rituals in which a number of people were murdered.

The Melbourne Archdiocese paid $33,000 to the man who made the allegations as compensation for the repeated sexual and physical abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of the priest.
According to documents obtained by NEWS.com.au, the Archdiocese's independent sexual abuse investigator, barrister Peter O'Callaghan, QC, described the details of the ritualised murders and sexual abuse provided by the victim as "extraordinary".

"...but I have no reason or justification for doubting his credibility," Mr O'Callaghan said in a letter to the victim's lawyers in October, 2000.

Contrite: George Pell's apology to the victim

Earlier, in a formal interview with the victim, Mr O'Callaghan said he was satisfied the man was telling the truth.

"I see no reason why I shouldn't accept what you say," he said, according to the transcript of the meeting. "Amazing as it is, I accept it."

The Melbourne Archdiocese's Vicar General, Monsignor Les Tomlinson, told NEWS.com.au that the independent investigator advised Victoria Police about the allegations when he first learned of them in 1999.

He was told the victim had already notified police he had been sexually abused "and was a witness to murder".

"The police advised that inquiries had been made with the homicide squad and their missing persons records and intelligence was unable to confirm the allegations and that there was no current investigation into the matter," Monsignor Tomlinson said.

A Victoria Police spokesman said the force was checking its records for details on the notifications it received before deciding whether it could comment on the case.

In a sworn statement given to the Archdiocese in November 1999, the victim said he was first abused as an 11-year-old by the priest in Melbourne in the early 1960s, while serving as an altar boy at the Sacred Heart Church in Sandringham and attending a Catholic school.

The abuse continued for three years and included being repeatedly sexually and physically abused during what appeared to be satanic rituals by the priest and others. He said the priest, who has since died, owned at least one firearm.

In his statement the 56-year-old victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave details of at least three deaths - a young woman, a young man and a young child - that occurred during the rituals over a number of years.

Two victims had their throats cuts and a third was killed with an axe. The bodies were mutilated and partly dismembered after the killings. In his statement, the victim says the victims appeared to have been drugged before being killed.

"I have some gruesome memories of killings," the victim said. "I still feel totally overwhelmed and blown away when I recall these incidents. All these memories are extremely traumatic."

Animals, including cats, were also killed during the rituals.

"I remember being told loudly and forcibly that God is evil and Satan is good and Satan is more powerful. On another occasion I was told that good is evil and evil is good and that Satan is all powerful and has control over the earth, and that I am evil and that is good," the victim said in his statement.

Some of the rituals, the victim said, took place in an old house owned by the Catholic Church in Sandringham on the site where the new Sacred Heart Church now stands.

Monsignor Tomlinson said he was not aware of any similar allegations having been made to the Melbourne Archdiocese.

The independent compensation panel made a $33,000 ex gratia payment to the victim in March 2001 after his claims had been investigated by Mr O'Callaghan. The Archdiocese is still paying for psychological counselling for the man, who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as suffering from complex post traumatic stress disorder "as a result of experiencing multiple traumatic events" in childhood.

In accepting the compensation payout, the victim had to agree not to take further legal action against the Archdiocese.

The victim said he had decided to speak out following publicity surrounding the recent trial in the United States of Catholic priest Gerald Robinson, who was found guilty of the ritualised murder of a nun.

Today is Father Gerald Robinson's 70th birthday. He is incarcerated at Hocking Correctional Facility in southern Ohio.
The Toledo Catholic priest has spent the last 23 months in prison after his May 11, 2006 conviction on charges of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980.
I could not let this day slip by without mentioning the priest's landmark birthday.
* * *
On a related matter, I finished my movie treatment of "Sin, Shame & Secrets" last week and sent it to the producer. I'm awaiting his comments. This was a fairly major revision of my original treatment, for which I tried to do too much. This time around I based the movie on a straightforward chronological unfolding of the plot, similar to the way my book is outlined.
As a rookie at filmmaking, I think I was overreaching the first time around. There was a disconnect, as the producer said. This time it flows well and I think the story is a riveting one.
I'm hoping he'll like it and only need minor tweaks.

Toledo, Ohio
April 14, 2008

After months, and in some way years, of anticipation, the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals today issued its decision in the Gerald Robinson murder case.
In a shockingly long and meticulous 95-page ruling, the three-judge panel upheld the guilty verdict from the Toledo priest's 2006 trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Attorneys on both sides said it was the longes decision they had ever seen from the appeals court. Judges Handwork, Pietrykowski and Skow reviewed the appeal line by line, virtually, referring repeatedly to the 4,000 page trial transcript and evidence from 2006.

The appellant's arguments were rejected point by point, from claims of ineffective council to an unfair delay from the time of the crime until his arrest.
I wrote about it for tomorrow's paper; you can read the entire 95 page decision online here.
I must say that Robinson's defense attorney John Donahue of Perrysburg is convinced that the priest did not murder Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
Dean Mandros, assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said he realizes there are some segments of society who can never accept that a priest could commit such a heinous act.
But the detailed, lengthy and thorough appeals court ruling made it abundantlly clear that the judges feel the legal process was fair and impartial and that there were no errors in the trial.
Donahue plans to pursue this to the Ohio Supreme Court.
* * *
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my article on the woman who channels a dead saint is running tomorrow and one of my editors suggested I should have had her call up Sister Margaret Ann. I'm not sure what to make of that but now I wish I had thought of it when I was doing the interview.
That article is also running tomorrow with an online audio sample of the woman channeling Padre Pio.
* * *
Tomorrow I'll be going to the Jame Farr LPGA golf tournament in Toledo on a highly unusual assignment: covering it for the society column. Our society writer, Barbara Hendel, is ill and will be out for a while so everyone is being asked to pitch in and cover something. I am delighted that my assignment is the golf tournament.
I might grumble about my job from time to time but if I do, please stop me and remind me about the time I got paid to watch women play golf.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
July 11, 2008

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.
* * *
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.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
July 13, 2008

Mark Davis, attorney for Survivor Doe and Spouse Doe, filed a motion involving their legal battle with Gerald Robinson and the Toledo Catholic Diocese.
Here's a copy of The Blade article about the motion that was published today:

Lawyer asks court to force Toledo Catholic Diocese to provide data

The attorney for a woman suing Toledo priest Gerald Robinson after accusing him of satanic ritual abuse has filed a motion asking that the Toledo Catholic Diocese be forced to provide documents and interrogatories related to the case.

Attorney Mark Davis, representing the Toledo woman who sued anonymously as Survivor Doe with her husband Spouse Doe, said in a motion filed yesterday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court that the diocese has not yet provided pertinent information despite repeated requests. The motion requests that Judge Ruth Ann Franks order diocese officials to "fully answer the plaintiff's requests for production of documents and interrogatories."

The diocese will have a chance to respond to the motion.

Survivor Doe, now in her mid 40s, claims she was repeatedly raped and tortured by Robinson and Toledoan Jerry Mazuchowski in satanic rituals starting in 1968.

Her civil suit was filed in April, 2005. A May, 2009, trial date has been set.

In an unrelated case, Robinson was convicted in May, 2006, for the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl and is serving a 15-years-to-life term in a southern Ohio prison. The Sixth District Court of Appeals recently affirmed his conviction.

Mark Davis, the "Bald Eagle" attorney (his billboard slogan) who represents Survivor Doe in her civil lawsuit against Father Gerald Robinson, has filed a motion to compel the Toledo Catholic Diocese to answer questions and produce requested documents.
Survivor Doe's suit, filed in Lucas County Commony Pleas Court in April, 2005, claims that Robinson and others tortured and sexually abused her in satanic rituals when she was a child.
Davis said in his latest filing that he repeatedly requested documents and interrogatories from the Toledo diocese and its attorneys, but without result. The only correspondence he received, he said in the motion, was a suggestion for a confidentiality agreement from Tom Pletz, the diocese's attorney. That suggestion was rejected by Davis.
The motion to compel was reported in a brief newspaper article earlier this month. I thought some people who have an interest in the Father Gerald Robinson case might want to know a few details about Davis' motion.
Here are just a few of the items and questions the attorney addressed to the diocese in his motion:
* Names of employees who worked at St. Adalbert's Church [where Survivor Doe allegedly was abused], including priests or clergy, from 1968 to 1972.
* Names of all persons or entities who may have relevant documents in the case.
* Names of persons who were witnesses to any factual scenario in connection with this case.
* Names of expert witnesses the diocese intends to call in connection with a trial.
* "State if the Diocese of Toledo has ever been involved in any criminal or civil litigation within the last 10 years, state the name and address of the court(s), the case number(s); and whether you were a plaintiff or defendant."
* "State the names of all the priests, clergy, and or other employee of the defendant diocese who has been accused of sexual misconduct within the last 10 years."
* The employment history of defendant Robinson.
* State if Gerald Robinson has ever been treated for pedophilia, ephebophilia, and/or psychosexual disorders.
* "Produce any and all documents, including police reports for each and every every incident the police were called for, allegations against any priest for misconduct of any kind during the time Gerald Robinson was employed."
* All records relating to Gerald Robinson from the Diocesan Lay Review Board.
* "Produce all records relating to investigations relating to claims of Satanism, Satan worship, or Devil Worship within the Catholic Diocese in the Northwst Ohio and South Eastern Michigan region."
* * *
Those are just a few of the requests, and the answers should be interesting.
* * *
A co-defendant in the case, Jerry Mazuchowski, filed a request for an extension and was granted until Sept. 9 to respond to Survivor Doe's motion.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
August 23, 2008

I met a woman yesterday who had an interesting story to tell about Gerald Robinson, the priest convicted of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
This woman, whom I will not identify here, called for a hospital chaplain in October 2003 to pray for her father, who was near death in a local hospital. This was six months before the priest's arrest.
The woman's friend was in the room as well, and I spoke with her about this incident also.
Father Robinson arrived at the hospital room and gave this dying man last rites/extreme unction.
Shortly after, the woman's father died. Understandably upset, the woman asked Father Robinson if her father was in heaven.
According to both women who were there, Robinson turned away from her, went over to a dresser where he was putting away some things away, emitted a strange laugh, then turned to her and said coldly, "I don't know."
He acted very, very strangely, both women said. The woman who had lost her father said it was so creepy that she stopped going to Catholic Church.

Her friend, who is a Muslim, said the least he could have done is given the grieving woman some encouraging words, not a cold laugh and an "I don't know."

I've heard a number of stories of bizarre behavior by Gerald Robinson, but this is one of the most disturbing. As far as I know, Father Robinson has not been laicized and therefore remains an ordained priest in the Toledo Catholic Diocese.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
August 30, 2008

Had lunch today with Bob Larson, the man who kicks out demons for a living. He is a charismatic and controversial figure because of his strong personality and the nature of his ministry.

For starters, a lot of people don't believe there are demons, so an exorcist seems like a joke or a charlatan to them. Second, Bob Larson's flair for the dramatic makes the skeptical even more suspicious.
He will be featured in a new reality tv show on the sci-fi channel called "The Real Exorcist." I'll be writing about it in the near future and will let you know when to look for it.
Bob has read "Sin,Shame & Secrets" and we spent a long time discussing the case and the possible demonic and satanic implications.
There is no way to really know what happened inside Gerald Robinson's head or in his soul, so we were only speculating. But Larson regularly deals with people who have demonic manifestations,having performed by his count well over 6,000 exorcisms.
He said Robinson could fit a category that he has seen many times in which a man was molested or traumatized as a child, and then suppressed those memories, creating something like an alter ego or a multiple personality. The core person carries on his life unaware of this trauma that is festering in this separate personality. But this other personality is living the trauma in the now, never dealing with it, never moving on. It becomes like a volcano ready to blow, Larson said. This personality is subject to demonic possession/oppression when it manifests.
It is possible that Robinson had this separate personality that rarely got out beyond his core personality. When it did, it was a violent and demonic personality out for destruction.
In many cases, the actions of this suppressed personality are not remembered by the core person. But a crime as heinous as the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl would be unlikely to be totally suppressed, according to Larson.
Another thing he said is that a person who is living his life for the good and then gets angry at God is more likely to go from one extreme to another than is your typical law-abiding citizen. In other words, if Robinson devoted his life to serving God as a priest and then became mad at God and the church, he would be a logical candidate for satanism and demonic activity. Larson said he has seen people flip this switch many times.
As I said, Larson is only speaking in theory and generalities, not having met Robinson. But he does have a lot of experience in this area and certainly is one of the world's leading experts on demonic possession.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
Oct. 6, 2008

I made a routine check of Father Gerald Robinson's status with the Ohio Department of Corrections.
Yes, he's still incarcerated at the Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville, Ohio.

Gerald Robinson's prison file photo. .

Maybe this item has been on the web page before but I just noticed that the "maximum sentence expiration date" is listed as 01/01/8888.
That's year 8888, as in 6,880 years from now.
I suppose the corrections bureau is making sure that with potential medical advancements in the next few years the offender doesn't outlive his life sentence.
The first possible parole hearing for Robinson, who turned 70 last April, is in March 2021.

Here's a link to the site if you're interested.
* * *
In a totally unrelated note, Democratic presidential candidate Barack is camped out in the Toledo area this week preparing for the debate on Wednesday night.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
Oct. 13, 2008

Got a call from Father Jeffrey Grob yesterday. He's the Catholic priest from Chicago who testified in the Gerald Robinson trial on the occult aspects of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's murder. He was the assistant to the exorcist of the archdiocese at the time of the trial in 2006.
I had called Father Grob a week earlier for an article I was working on about Bob Larson, the minister who will be starring in a reality TV show called The Real Exorcist. Father Grob returned my call too late to be included in the article but we had a good conversation nonetheless.
I asked him if he got any negative comments for testifying against Father Robinson, and he said no, quite the contrary. Many people, including priests, commended him for telling the truth about some of the horrible things that had been going on with Robinson. They were glad he exposed the occult crimes for what they were, instead of letting them be covered up.
He also said he read "Sin, Shame & Secrets" and felt that it was very well written. He liked the Bob Larson article as well, calling it "a very good read."
Father Grob said he and Bob Larson "come from very different traditions" and that while he does not think exorcisms are suitable for reality TV, he supports Larson's idea that the program may help people by showing that demon possession is real.
By the way, got a complaint letter from someone blasting the Larson article, saying I should've included comments from "mainline" ministers. I pointed out that Rev. Roger Miller, who is quoted in the article, is from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I think that qualifies.
Sometimes people get mad at me because articles don't say what they want them to say.
I never mind getting criticized by a reader who has a reasonable argument or points out a legitimate error.
What I find tiresome, though, is when people attack me because they have such strong emotions on a particular subject that they can't see straight, and they are irate because I am not promoting their agenda.
* * *
Watched the World Series last night... the Rays couldn't get a break, every close pitch was a ball for Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir and a strike for the Phillies' Cole Hamels. Replays showed several really poor calls by the home plate umpire.
The weather was absolutely horrible and the Rays were down 2-1, playing in rain and 39-degree temperatures, at the halfway mark, so it would have been an official game if the umps called it on account of weather. That would have been the end of the series and the Phils would've won.
Thankfully for all concerned, the Rays scored a run in the top of the 6th, tying it up 2-2. The game was quickly suspended and the teams wi'll resume where they left off. That tie really took the pressure off the umps and MLB officials.
It would have been a tough way to lose the series if the game was called before 9 innings.
Tampa Bay still faces tremendous odds but at least they survived another day.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
October 28, 2008

The Ohio Supreme Court today ruled that it will not hear Father Gerald Robinson's appeal.
That is the almost end of the legal road for the priest convicted of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
There are two options remaining that I am aware of, one is to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The other is the petition for post-conviction relief that was filed and put on hold pending the outcome of the other legal efforts.
I will keep you posted.

Here is the basic announcement from the court, under a general heading saying the court declined to review the case:

2008-1666. State v. Robinson.
Lucas App. No. L-06-1182, 2008-Ohio-3498.
Pfeifer, J., dissents.
Lanzinger, J., not participating.

* * *
Toledo, Ohio
Dec. 31, 2008

Here is a link to The Blade article published today on the Ohio Supreme Court deciding not to hear Robinson's appeal.

As reported recently, Gerald Robinson lost his appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court. His next step will be to file an appeal with the United States Supreme Court.
I just read a news article today about the Supreme Court and was surprised that the justices choose to hear only 1 percent of the cases submitted to them.
The odds are definitely against Father Robinson's attorneys getting to argue his case before the Supreme Court. But of course the odds are not the issue. They strongly believe their client is innocent and their only option to move forward at this point is to take it to the nation's highest court.
I wish them well. I know the lawyers are good men who are putting in a lot of hours without pay, strictly in pursuit of justice.
You can't let the odds get you down when you're on a mission.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
Jan. 10, 2009

Below is an article published in The Blade 1/17/09 and a subsequent letter to the editor, which I am posting without comment although I do have a lot to say about it. I will post a separate blog with comments later. -- David

Lawyer claims priest's rights were trampled

An attorney for Toledo Catholic priest Gerald Robinson filed a motion yesterday claiming that his client's constitutional rights were violated in the 2006 trial that led to Robinson's conviction for the 1980 murder of a nun.

John Donahue of Perrysburg asserted in an amended petition for postconviction relief, filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, that Robinson's trial attorneys were ineffective, that the State of Ohio withheld key evidence, and that pervasive media coverage deprived the priest of a fair trial.

"I believe he is innocent and the highest calling for me is to assist a wrongly convicted person," Mr. Donahue said.

He said he spent two years and donated more than $400,000 of his time in compiling evidence for the 56-page motion and an appendix containing hundreds of pages of police reports, coroner's files, affidavits, and other documents.

Robinson, 70, is serving a 15-years-to-life sentence at Hocking Correctional Institute in southern Ohio for the April 5, 1980, murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.

He lost an appeal in the Sixth District Court of Appeals, and on Dec. 31 the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear his case.
Mr. Donahue said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a "two-pronged attack," along with the amended petition, seeking to overturn his client's murder conviction.

Robinson retired in 2004 and has been barred from ministry by Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair, but remains a priest because he has not been laicized by the Vatican.

Dean Mandros, assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said the motion "is primarily a continuation of the arguments raised at trial and on appeal when they tried to blame a dead priest, Father Jerome Swiatecki, for this murder. The trial jury didn't buy that. The court of appeals didn't buy it. And we'll see if this judge buys it, but I don't think so."

He said Mr. Donahue made at least 225 assertions in the motion, and the state will ask the court for "an adequate amount of time to respond properly."

* * *

In Robinson case, truth has been lost

God bless you, attorney John Donahue, in your efforts to free the Rev. Gerald Robinson.

I'm among the many who believe this priest is innocent of this murder and I do not think he received a fair trial.

According to an article in The Blade, his attorneys were working on this case plus another at the same time. Did they really have enough time to make a strong case for the defense?

I read one article in The Blade that stated the DNA from Father Robinson did not match the DNA found on the nun. Isn't that a major factor? Yet that was not stressed. You read that in many cases, DNA evidence is a factor in proving the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Our laws are predicated on the belief that you are innocent until proven guilty. Once you are accused, our society? rushes to judgment and deems the accused guilty even before the trial. Thus it seems you are guilty until proven innocent.

Recently, I was disappointed when the three appeals court judges found nothing wrong with this trial. It is too bad that the cost of a con?viction is more important than getting at the truth.

Rita Ann Carleski
Waterville

Father Gerald Robinson being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after his murder conviction on May 11, 2006.

Attorney John P. Donahue of Perrysburg, Ohio, has done an extraordinary job in attempting to prove that his client, Father Gerald Robinson, is an innocent man.

No matter what one may think about Father Robinson's 2006 conviction for the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, it is beyond dispute that Mr. Donahue has gone to incredible lengths to assemble evidence and make a case that the Toledo diocesan priest is not guilty.

The latest legal filing was an Amended Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 16, 2009. The petition itself is 56 pages long and the accompanying appendix is literally two inches thick (I measured it), approximately 400 to 500 pages long.

Donahue, a 62-year-old Vietnam War veteran and chain-smoking attorney, spent two years putting this petition together and estimates he has invested more than $400,000 of his time in the Robinson case, and all pro bono.

Why?

Because he is convinced Father Robinson is innocent.

So far, he has not persuaded the appeals court judges nor the Ohio Supreme Court justices to agree with him. The former court rejected his appeal in a lengthy ruling, and the latter declined to even hear the case.

Mr. Donahue plans to file with the United States Supreme Court, which hears approximately 1 percent of the cases submitted to it.

In the meantime, he filed the latest petition in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. In the petition, Mr. Donahue argues may points that he considers crucial to proving Robinson's innocence. Here are the primary points he makes in the document:

* First, that another Toledo diocesan priest, the late Father Jerome Swiatecki, was the murderer.
* Second, that the murder weapon was a pair of scissors missing from the sacristy where Sister Margaret Ann was murdered.
* Third, that Robinson's trial attorneys were ineffective.
* Fourth, that the prosecutors withheld evidence that potentially could have proved Robinson's innocence.
* Fifth, that the 24-year lapse between the murder and Robinson's arrest prevented the priest from getting a fair trial.
* Sixth, that the suggestions that the nun was the victim of a ritual killing and that there was an occult element to the murder prejudiced the jury.
* Seventh, that pretrial publicity made it impossible for Robinson to receive a fair trial in Lucas County.

All these arguments are interesting in their own right, but most of them have been addressed in the initial trial and in the appeals process thus far.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens with this latest petition. The prosecutors have asked Judge Gene Zmuda for a sufficient amount of time to respond, and based on the sheer volume of legal points raised by Donahue, it may take a long time to properly address each of the issues.

I will look into some of them in detail here and hope to write an in-depth article for the newspaper soon.

Meanwhile, Gerald Robinson's May 9 hearing in the civil suit filed by Survivor Doe apparently has been delayed, according to Donahue.

Donahue said his client, now 70 years old, has adjusted to prison life and is not angry at anyone for his incarceration, The Toledo priest sees this as a test, something similar to what Job experienced when he endured all kinds of suffering that was not deserved.

Donahue is convinced Father Robinson ultimately will be exonerated. He is not sure, however, that his client will live long enough to see it in court.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
January 25, 2009
* * *
p.s. Do you realize that one month ago today was Christmas?

Attorney John Donahue has filed another notable document in his efforts to have Toledo Diocesan Priest Gerald Robinson's murder conviction overturned.
The latest effort is an affidavit signed by a Toledo woman who claims that one of the jurors in the 2006 trial told her before he heard any evidence that he thought Robinson was guilty. He said he believed Robinson had sexually molested children and should be "put away," according to the affidavit.
This document goes with a 500-page appendix to a petition for post-conviction relief that Donahue filed a few weeks ago.
I can't predict where this will lead, but we'll see what legal system decides. One lawyer who is very familiar with the case told me that the latest legal move is the equivalent of "a Hail Mary pass in a soccer game."
Here is a link to today's news article.
* * *
Meanwhile, the May 4 trial date for Father Robinson's civil suit has been pushed back to March, 2010. That's the case in which a Toledo woman, filing anonymously as Survivor Doe, alleges the priest sexually abused her in satanic rituals when she was a child.
She said she didn't know the identity of the perpetrator until she saw Robinson's face on TV after his arrest. That is why the statute of limitations did not preclude her from suing, according to an appeals court decision, which ruled that she couldn't sue him until she learned his identity.
Therefore the statute of limitations did not start ticking until after she saw him on TV in 2004, and she filed her lawsuit within a year after that.
* * *
February 4, 2009
Sylvania, Ohio

A few Monday morning musings ...
I found myself in the uncomfortable situation of being in the middle of a news story last weekend. It involves the latest court filings in the Gerald Robinson case.
Take a look at Erica Blake's article here.
The state is seeking a gag order. It contends that the defense is claiming pretrial publicity tainted the jury pool in the priest's 2006 trial, and if by chance there is another trial they don't want to have to deal with that same argument.
The article quotes prosecutors as saying that Robinson's defense attorney "hand-delivered" a copy of his latest court filing to a reporter.
Not exactly.
That term makes it sound like Mr. Donahue got in his car and drove to the newspaper and ran up the steps and handed me a copy of his filing.
What happened was that I drove to Donahue's office in Perrysburg, where he had a copy of the legal motion available, and we discussed the case for about 90 minutes late on a Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, our staff verified that the motion had been filed in the clerk's office.
It is quite common for reporters to be given copies of court documents. Once it is verified that the documents have been filed, then they are public record and suitable for news purposes.
There is nothing secretive or controversial about this.
In fact, many courts today make these documents available online so that everyone has access to them. (Isn't it about time that the Lucas County Common Pleas Court take this step, by the way?)

But I can see the point the prosecutor's office is trying to make. It's logical, albeit a bit of a stretch:

Defense attorney Donahue is claiming that his client, convicted murderer Father Gerald Robinson, was denied a fair trial in part because of unfavorable pretrial publicity.
Now the attorney meets with a reporter (and with a TV crew) on the day he files a court motion and discusses the case at length with the media, knowing that stories are going to be written or broadcast about the legal filing with his comments included.

The state is arguing that Robinson's attorney wants to have eat his cake and have it too: pretrial publicity could preclude a fair trial, yet he meets with reporters seeking to get stories that give his side of the case.
Rather than risk having to deal with that kind of argument, the prosecutor's office is seeking to shut the door and keep the media in the dark.

Here's a few of my thoughts on this matter:
1. Donahue trusts me to be fair and accurate, otherwise he would not give me the time of day.

Many Robinson supporters don't see things so objectively; they blame the messenger for the bad news. But Donahue, who is certain his client is innocent, has been able to look beyond the knee-jerk reaction of most of the priest's supporters and assess the situation objectively. I.e., his client was convicted of murder in a court of law by evidence that convinced a jury of 12 that Robinson was guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. The news media reports are based the trial and subsequent developments, which all point to findings that the priest's fans don't want to hear.

2. The documents exchanged are all public record and freely available to anyone who wants them.

3. Obviously enough, as a journalist and a proponent of free speech and the first amendment, I don't like gag orders. I do realize that they are necessary at times. I don't personally think this is one of those rare cases where a gag order would serve a viable purpose.

4. This may be the most intriguing aspect of the gag-order request: The prosecutors must be thinking that there is a chance, however slim it may be, that Father Robinson may get a new trial.

If not, why even consider a gag order? If granted, it would apply only to some potential common pleas court trial, and not to the priest's pending appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It may be that the prosecutor's office is just being incredibly thorough and looking to prevent any possible wrinkle in all possible scenarios. The request for the gag may be just an extremely precautionary measure, the equivalent of someone in Toledo buying hurricane insurance.
All I can say for now is.... Stay tuned...

* * *
A few more Monday morning musings:

I wrote an article published today about the small rural St. James Parish of Kansas, Ohio, closed in 2005 and still fighting to own the property that is now owned by the Toledo diocese.
These ex-parishioners are literally taking their case as far as they can. I think the legal arguments are interesting and the outcome of this case could have widespread implications.
Here's a link.
* * *
I was very happy with the way my article turned out about Jackie Frisch, the woman who with her husband Aaron adopted 9 children and had their house rebuilt on Extreme Makeover.
I tried to focus on Jackie's strong Christian faith and the severity of her disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Here's a link to the article.
* * *
Nice to see an upbeat, "outsider" movie take home so much brass from the Oscars. "Slumdog Millionaire" is a very well written and acted film, and it's relatively wholesome and enjoyable. It makes you feel good about life to see- the underdog rise above his circumstances and achieve greatness (although his escape is based winning a game show, which is mostly luck, and not on the escapee's talent, skill or sweat equity.)
I didn't see all of the Academy Awards program last night but I did love the opening scene with Hugh Jackman -- the "low-budget" musical number. I didn't realize Jackman was such a talented singer and entertainer.
What I liked best about the skit was the enjoyment on his face, he really looked like he was having fun. My favorite line was when he introduced "the craigslist dancers" who were accompanying him.
* * *
Saturday we had a wedding shower for my daughter Cara and her fiance Dustin. We followed the format of a "southern style" shower that some good friends had last year, inviting both men and women to the shower instead of the standard women-only event filled with silly games.
It turned out to be a wonderful day. We saw so many people we don't usually see, and got to catch up and share some laughs and conversations with people we care about. It was kind of like a preview of the wedding and reception, during which we are so busy it is easy to miss your opportunities to visit.
The weather was dicey on Saturday -- predictions ranged for up to a foot of snow. We wound up with about 3 inches, making driving a bit slippery but not enough white stuff to keep most hearty Ohioans home.
About 80 people made it to the shower and everything worked out great.
Why do I worry about these things? I know the Bible says not to worry, I just have to do a better job of following that advice.
* * *
Duke beat Wake Forest yesterday in basketball, after losing to the team the first time they met this season. I didn't watch it but the reports say Coach K was really fired up, he even took off his jacket. I love it when he is really intense. There's no better college coach around.
It won't be long before March Madness begins... I don't think Duke will go very far this year, they don't have the height or the consistency. But if they get hot they could surprise me and make it to the sweet 16.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
February 23, 2009

Gerald Robinson is still behind bars. Here's the department of corrections' online link to his status.

He remains a priest in the Toledo Catholic Diocese, although Bishop Leonard Blair has suspended him from ministry. Many people think he is no longer a Catholic priest, but that only happens if/when the Vatican laicizes, or defrocks him.
He'll turn 71 years old next month, and Perrysburg attorney John Donahue is doing all he can to get Robinson out from behind bars.
We are waiting to see if the prosecutor's office succeeds in its request for Judge Gene Zmuda to issue a gag order in the case, a most unusual motion since there is no jury trial scheduled.
I'm assuming Zmuda will decide on that motion any day now.
People often ask me about another local religious order priest accused of serious crimes, Chet Warren, and say they find it hard to believe Warren has never spent a day behind bars. But that's the case. Warren walks around the city a free man, although banned from entering the chapel of Blessed Sacrament Church in Toledo, the result of a legal request filed against him by the Toledo diocese.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
March 25, 2009

I get asked that question quote often. I don't always know what to say. There are a lot of things percolating but nothing notable has bubbled to the surface recently.
There are still ongoing discussions regarding a movie, and a national network news program is considering a segment on the Father Robinson case.
A nationally known Catholic columnist is interested in writing something referenced in the book, about the abortion files.
None of these items are nailed down and so I don't think it is appropriate to say anything more at this time ... but stay tuned.
* * *
On a lesser scale, I've had several people make some very positive comments to me this week.
One Toledoan told me he sent a copy of "Sin, Shame & Secrets" to his 83-year-old father in Florida, whom he described as a voracious reader, and that his father called it the best book he has ever read.
Another person stopped by the office the other day with three copies of the book for me to sign. He described himself as a devout Catholic and said he was extremely grateful to know what is going on at the HQ.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
March 29, 2009

Today, April 14, is Father Gerald Robinson's 71st birthday. He's spending it in prison at Hocking Correctional Facility. I wonder if he gets a cake today.
Sadly, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was 71 years old when she was strangled and stabbed to death, the horrific crime for which Robinson was convicted.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
April 14, 2009

I took this photo with my phone yesterday, it's Father Gerald Robinson's home with a for sale sign in front (can't really see the sign but it's there).
I don't know if selling his home implies that he doesn't expect to be getting out of prison soon. Maybe he would buy a different house if he wins his appeal.
I heard the priest's nephew had been taking care of the house and property while he was in prison, but it's been nearly 3 years since his incarceration and things change.
One possible selling point for this house: it's right next door to the police station.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
April 23, 2009

Got a call today from a TV producer for a show that will air on MSNBC called "Verdict: You Decide."
They are filming an episode on the Father Gerald Robinson murder trial and will be in Toledo this week to start production.
They have asked to interview me for the show and warned me it will be a rather lengthy session.
I'll let you know how the taping goes and what the tentative broadcast date will be.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
April 28, 2009

Someone involved in the case predicted recently that the legal filings will never stop until Father Robinson passes away. That seems to be proving true... there's no shortage of court filings.
Yesterday, the State of Ohio filed a legal motion containing more than 900 pages of documents that literally stack up to a height of 4 inches.
This was the response to Father Robinson's attorney's January filing that was a mere 2 inches thick.

The state's motion was in opposition to Robinson's amended petition for post-conviction relief.
At the same time, the Ohio Innocence Project has jumped into the legal fray by joining defense attorneys John Donahue and Rick Kerger as co-counsel, specifically in regard to DNA evidence.
I wrote about it for today's paper and you can read the article here.
The Ohio Innocence Project specializes in using DNA evidence to prove the innocence of convicted persons.
I have spent a great deal of time as a journalist and author, albeit from a layperson's nonscientific perspective, looking into the DNA evidence in this case. Nothing is more frequently misunderstood and misquoted by the casual observer of the Robinson case than the DNA found at the crime scene.
Here are a few things to consider before jumping to conclusions on the importance of deoxyribonucleic acid in this case:
* Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was murdered on April 5, 1980. DNA was not used as evidence to convict a defendant in a tril until 1987.
* Nobody looked for DNA at the crime scene or thought to preserve it from contamination.
* Dozens of people were in the sacristy where Sister Margaret Ann's body was found, including medical personnel, coroner's officials, nuns, clerics, and maintenance workers.
* The amount of DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's undergarments was 7 picograms. That is equivalent to 7 dollar bills in a stack of bills 60 miles high, or one bathroom tile in an area the size of Indiana.
* The DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann's fingernails was not found "under her nails" as some of Robinson's supporters claim. It was found after her nails had been clipped by police and placed inside an envelope. The clippings were later disintegrated into a solvent for testing purposes and the DNA was found in the solution mix. It could have come from the top of her fingernails, it could have come from beneath the nails -- nobody knows.
* The amount of DNA material is so minuscule that it could have come from somebody sneezing or coughing, or from a microscopic piece of shed skin.
* During the 2006 trial, the prosecution explained the DNA factors to the 12 jurors who agreed unanimously that DNA was not a significant factor in determining Father Robinson's guilt or innocence.
* * *
Still waiting to hear whether Judge Gene Zmuda will grant the Lucas County prosecutor's office's request for a gag order in the case.
The more that time passes, the more unlikely it seems that the judge will grant the request.
It would be highly unusual since there is no trial scheduled, and it is possible there never will be another trial.
For a judge to grant a gag order on the possibility of a trial sometime in the future would be highly unusual, to say the least.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
May 2, 2009

A film crew is in town working on an hour-long documentary show for the Discovery Channel. Two pilot programs aired on MSNBC last fall and it was picked up for a 13-week season on Discovery that starts this fall.

The pilots were titled "Verdict: You Decide," but I believe the name for the full season is "Forensics: You Decide."
The producers said they take a real-life case and present the prosecution's side for half the program and the defense's side for the other half. The viewers are supposed to make up their own mind whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty, and the show wraps up by revealing the actual verdict.
My interview went fairly well, I think. The crew said several times that I was fantastic but they probably say that to all their interviewees. It's hard to predict how much they'll use or what snippets of the interview will end up in the program. But they invested quite a bit of time in getting my comments, so I would guess I'll be on it more than I was in the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Twist of Faith." They interviewed me and Mike Sallah for about half an hour, showed about 30 seconds of us in the film, and Mike talked for about 25 seconds of that. I think I was quoted as saying, "Yeah, that's right."
This time I was interviewed for about 2 hours and the crew then filmed "B roll" of me around the office, walking into the building, sitting at my computer, making phone calls, holding up newspapers published during the trial, etc.
It was a little Hollywood-ish in that I would walk down a hallway three or four times and try to look serious about something. My editors had given us the OK for the filming but a lot of my colleagues were unaware until they saw the cameraman follwing me around.
It was a bit out of my comfort zone, not normally wanting attention. But hopefully it all works out to make it a very good show. They seemed to be experienced and serious documentary filmmakers.
One of the producers said he has become obsessed with the case and has been reading everything he can about it. I know he was serious because he read my book and had tons of questions about the trial and the people involved.
The Discovery program is likely to air in late November or early December. I'll let you know when the air date is set.
* * *
Sylvania, Ohio
May 6, 2009

My article was published today about the latest development in the Father Gerald Robinson case (read it here).
There are two key elements to the story: One, that male DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann's fingernails does not match that of Fr. Jerome Swiatecki, and second, that the Ohio Innocence Project next will test the DNA of deceased serial killer Coral Watts.

Robinson's current defense attorneys -- and some avid case-watchers -- are convinced that it was a different Toledo diocesan priest, the late Father Swiatecki, who murdered Sister Margaret Ann on that fateful Holy Saturday morning in 1980.

In January, 2008, attorney John Donahue filed a petition in Lucas County Common Pleas Court quoting Sister Dorothy Marie Balabuch, a Sylvania Franciscan nun, as saying she worked as a housekeeper for Father Swiatecki and that the priest was an "immoral man" with "a very bad temper" and a fondness for knives and "hard-core pornography."

Not a very flattering portrayal of the late father, who died in 1996 at age 82.

Robinson's defense attorneys contend that the timeframe for Sister Margaret Ann's murder is different than the one presented in courtroom testimony, and that she was killed during a timeframe when Fr. Swiatecki's whereabouts cannot be determined.

As Rick Kerger, another Robinson attorney said in today's article, the fact that the DNA found on the murdered nun's nails does not match Fr. Swiatecki's does not prove anything. Had it been a match, then that would have bolstered their case.

As for Watts' DNA being tested, there has been no evidence linking him to Sister Margaret Ann's murder but if his DNA test turns out to match that found on the nun's fingernails, it would be a very, very interesting twist.

That's a big "if," however.

Watts killed at least a dozen women and may have killed 80 more. Most of his victims were women between the ages of 14 and 40 who were tortured and then stabbed or beaten to death.
He was definitely a twisted and dangerous man, with more mental problems than just a low IQ of 68.

Watts died in prison of prostate cancer two years ago at age 53. You can read Wikipedia's report on his sad and sordid life and crimes here.

Since Watts was in the Detroit area when Sister Margaret Ann was slain, it is logical that some people would draw a connection between this notorious sicko and the brutal death of a nun in Toledo.

The upcoming DNA test will either support those theories or shut them down.
Or maybe not.
Conspiracy theorists are tenacious. It takes a lot to change their minds.

Meanwhile, Father Gerald Robinson remains safely behind bars in southern Ohio.

There will be a lecture in the near future in the Toledo area given by someone who had a role in the Gerald Robinson murder trial of 2006.
It is not oficially scheduled yet but I will let you know more details when the lecture date, time, and speaker are finalized.
I know this is just a little teaser and sorry I can't say more. The talk definitely will be worthwhile for people who are interested in the case.

A member of the jury that convicted Father Gerald Robinson of murder in 2006 will give a public talk on Wednesday night at Ski's Restaurant in Sylvania. Admission is $2. Call the restaurant to reserve a seat, but it's almost sold out. 419-882-1199.

Last night, Denise West, a juror in the Father Gerald Robinson murder trial, stepped into the lion's den when she agreed to talk about her view of the trial at Ski's, a local Polish restaurant.
You can read my story about the event here.
The audience was generally full of Robinson friends and supporters, and Mrs. West was one of the 12 jurors who found the Toledo diocesan priest guilty of murder.
To say the crowd was unhappy with that verdict could qualify as the understatement of the new millennium.
Mrs. West is a quiet woman and an average citizen who did her job as a juror. She said she had been completely unaware of the case before being selected for the jury and apparently has not followed developments in the news since.
She said several times that "I hate to read" and only watches the TV news to check the weather.
She also said she is a Catholic and that it was tremendously stressful to send a priest to prison.
The audience peppered her with detailed questions basically seeking to enforce their own theories that Father Robinson is not the murderer. Their questions included many inaccuracies and fallacies that were presented as "facts".
I felt bad for Mrs. West, who was unaware of most of the theories and was not prepared to dispute or rebut them.
The simple fact is that this woman faithfully did her duty by sitting in the jury box for the entire trial and making her decision based on the testimony and evidence presented in court.
The same thing for the other 11 jurors who voted unanimously, without much need for debate, that Robinson is the person who brutally murdered Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
The priest's supporters's conspiracy theories and unlimited arguments about what his defense attorneys should have or could have done or failed to do during the trial have nothing to do with the reality of what Mrs. West experienced as a juror.
It's obvious that Robinson's followers will never be convinced that the priest is guilty.
In fact, I thought it was sad to hear so many irrational questions from the crowd that were based on inaccuracies, distortions of facts, rumors and half-truths.
I am all in favor of debating this unique and unforgettable case and reviewing and challenging the evidence, but I would estimate that 95 percent of the audience's questions last night were based on misinformation and rumor. His supporters hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe.
There was no way Mrs. West was going to placate that crowd and their misguided questions that were more suitable for a panel of prosecutors and expert witnesses.
She was a juror, an average citizen, taking on an unpleasant but important responsibility. She had guts to get up in front of that crowd, but she might have been better advised to skip the talk.
* * *
By the way, there was supposed to be no media coverage of her talk, but Mrs. West gave me an exemption because she trusts me. For that I am grateful.

Tests of the DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's fingernails prove that it is NOT a match with Coral Eugene Watts.
Nobody's suprised except a few conspiracy theorists and bloggers.
Even Father Robinson's lead defense attorney, John Donahue, said he never considered Watts a suspect in the murder for which his client was convicted.
Thomas Staff, a Lucas County assistant prosecutor, did a lot of work investigating Watts in 1981 and said he was a "person of interest" but never a serious suspect in the nun's murder. But there were other local murder cases he was suspected in, particularly of young females (some of whom were later found to be victims of the notorious Cook brothers).
My article about the Watts DNA results was published today. You can read it here.
Watts was a monster and menace to society, responsible for as many as 100 murders. (Read the Wikipedia entry on him here.) The fact that he was within an hour's drive of Toledo made it prudent to check into any possible links with local murders. Other than proximity, there was zero evidence linking him to Sister Margaret Ann's murder -- or that of any other women in Ohio.
Had the male DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann's nails turned out to match Watts', that would have been an amazing twist to this bizarre murder case. But as it turns out, nobody was stunned that the results came back negative.
The male DNA found on the nun's fingernails is still a mystery of sorts. But the amount was so minuscule -- 37 trillionths of a gram -- and the crime scene so contaminated by male visitors after the body was discovered, that it is unlikely ever to become a significant piece of evidence in the case.
By the way, the male DNA was not found "under the fingernails" or "in fingernail scrapings" from Sister Margaret Ann, as some people have inaccurately claimed. The implication in those descriptions being that while the nun was defending herself from her killer, she scraped some of his skin or blood with her fingers. That is common in many murder cases but is not accurate in this one. The fact is that the DNA was found on nail clippings taken from Sister Margaret Ann's corpse that were then dissolved in a solution and tested for DNA. The chromosomes could have been on top of her nails, on the tips or sides, or beneath the nails. Nobody knows.
Gerald Robinson -- still an ordained priest in the Toledo Catholic Diocese, as far as I know -- meanwhile has "a new ministry" in prison, his attorney said. The priest is very popular with the guards and inmates at Hocking Correctional Facility who reverently call him "Father," John Donahue said.
Meanwhile, his defense team continues to pursue a full-press legal effort to get him out of prison.
The DNA tests on Watts and Father Jerome Swiatecki have set them back about $3,000. It's not clear where that money came from, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the half-million-dollars or so of attorney fees that John Donahue has donated on his client's behalf.

I heard through the grapevine that Father Gerald Robinson gave a prison interview to a reporter from Columbus.
I don't know many details but will let you know when it is published and will provide a link. Apparently his defense attorney John Donahue was there to oversee things and make sure that the priest, who is serving time for the murder of a nun, did not say anything that could hurt his appeal(s).

Discovery Channel's "Forensics: You Decide" program will feature the Gerald Robinson case when it airs next Monday, Oct. 12, The TV crew was in Toledo this spring and interviewed a number of experts for the program.
The concept is that the program presents evidence for and against the defendant, splitting the time about equally, and then closes with the actual verdict. Producers said they really try to give equal weight to the prosecution and defense so the viewer gets a chance to weigh the evidence and make up their minds.
I was interviewed for hours for this program and am curious how the show turns out.
It will be broadcast at 10 p.m. on Monday on the Discovery ID channel (Not Discovery, but one of its subsidiary stations).

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to hear Gerald Robinson's appeal.
This is not a surprise, considering the High Court only hears about 1 percent of the cases submitted to it. And the court only deals with constitutional issues with broad legal applications.
Yet it is one more serious setback in the priest's efforts to have his murder conviction overturned.
There are still more legal efforts under way, but Robinson's options are getting narrower with every court ruling. And he has lost every legal bid at every step of the way, starting with his conviction in May, 2006.
Since a jury found the Toledo diocesean priest guilty of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, Father Robinson lost an appeal to the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals, he lost his appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, and now he has lost in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In addition, Robinson has lost two other efforts in his ongoing legal fight seeking to match crime scene DNA with men his attorneys said might have been the actual killer -- one a deceased Catholic priest who worked alongside him at the hospital and the other a dead serial killer from Detroit.
We'll see how things go with his amended petition for post-conviction relief in Common Pleas Court. I know his attorney John Donahue is convinced Robinson is innocent and will take every action he can to set his client free, short of a jailbreak.
As I've said many times, if he is innocent I certainly would not want him serving time in prison. If he is guilty, however, then he belongs behind bars for this most heinous crime. So far the judges have not seen any reason to overturn his conviction and the 71-year-old priest remains in Hocking Correctional Facility in southern Ohio, with his first parole hearing scheduled for March, 2021.
Blade reporter Erica Blake did an excellent job reporting on the Supreme Court ruling. You can read it in the Blade here.
* * *
There are a handful of people out there who keep telling me that I'll have to "apologize" someday when a court overturns Robinson's conviction.
I understand their frustration and the tendency to blame the messenger. This is a delusion that is as old as human history. Their anger is misplaced, however. I have only been reporting the facts, and it has not been the news media's fault in general or any individual reporter's fault in particular that the facts have not gone the way the Catholic priest and his supporters would have liked.
If there ever is a favorable ruling in Robinson's case, I and my colleagues in the media will swiftly and eagerly report that with the biggest headlines and the most prominent spots in the paper and TV news.
But for apologies? I don't think so.
Meanwhile, the odds of a conviction being overturned are getting slimmer.
As John Donahue, Robinson's diligent defense attorney, said, it will be a "miracle" if the priest's conviction is ever overturned.
* * *
Please ask me if the Vatican has laicized, or defrocked, Father Robinson. To my knowledge, he remains a Catholic priest.
Toledo Bishop Leonard Paul Blair barred Robinson from ministry, meaning he cannot present himself as a priest to the public. But technically is is still an ordained priest in the Toledo Catholic Diocese and can celebrate Mass -- but only for himself.

OK, so I slacked off a few weeks from my blog, but it's only because I took a pretty long vacation -- 2 1/2 weeks of travelin' fun.
While I was gone, there was plenty of news on Father Gerald Robinson.
* First, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal on his murder conviction. (He still has a petition pending in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, and also pending is a civil lawsuit filed by a Toledo woman claiming Robinson abused her as a child in satanic rituals.)
* Second, Discovery ID broadcast the hour-long program "Forensics: You Decide," featuring the Robinson case on Monday, Oct. 12, instead of the planned November or December date.
* Third, Father Robinson's interview with a Columbus Dispatch reporter was published while I was off. I read it and watched the video, and I have two things to say:
One, there's no real news in the article except for the fact that it's Robinson's first and, so far, only prison interview. He didn't say much.
Second, obviously I would like to interview the priest. But I've asked and his attorney has said no. I can't really blame him. I would not gloss over important details or let the priest sidestep the tough questions as the Dispatch did.
But I thought it was great that Robinson granted an interview and I am glad I had a chance to not only read his comments but to watch a video of the interview.
Here is a link to the Dispatch story and video.

A hearing scheduled January 22 for Gerald Robinson could set the stage for the Toledo priest's legal efforts to have his murder conviction overturned.
There has been so many court motions filed in the case that Judge Gene Zmuda scheduled the hearing to determine whether to grant an evidentiary hearing.
Robinson will be present by video. You can read my article about the hearing here.
Meanwhile, I noticed that the first possible date for Robinson's parole hearing has jumped ahead five years from previous listings on the state's website. It used to be in March 2021, and now it's listed as March 2016. I don't know the reason for the change but plan to check on that.

I went to register for a class at the University of Toledo this morning. When the woman in the office saw my name, she just about gasped and asked if I was David Yonke the writer.
She had read "Sin, Shame & Secrets" and said it was an amazingly powerful book.
It was difficult because she is a Catholic, she said. When she first started reading it, she had to put it down for a while because it was so disturbing. But when she picked it back up, she could not put it down.
I could see that the story had a profound effect on her. I tried to reassure her that the Catholic Church is OK, but there were individuals who committed heinous acts and others who covered up for them. I said I hoped that the church has learned that it cannot sweep such horrors under the rug, but should deal with them swiftly, firmly and transparently.
She was genuinely grateful that I wrote the book and was glad to know the truth, even if it was painful at times.

In other "Sin, Shame & Secrets" news: I saw that a new hard-cover copy of my book sold on eBay last week for $171. That's almost six times the cover price. The hardcover is out of print, unfortunately, so it's a matter of supply and demand now.
Hopefully the publisher will run off some more copies someday... Maybe when it's made into a movie?
Meanwhile, take good care of your own copy! It may turn out to be a good investment in more ways than one!

A judge has thrown out a civil suit against Gerald Robinson, saying the statutes of limitations expired.
The woman who filed the suit plans to appeal.
It's particularly interesting because the same judge, Ruth Ann Franks, had dismissed the case previously on statute of limitations grounds. But the woman appealed and the higher court sent it back to common pleas court.
This time Judge Franks went the extra mile to explain her reasons. The woman, who filed anonymously as Survivor Doe, said she could not have sued earlier because she did not know the perpetrators' identities until she saw Robinson on TV in 2004 when he was arrested for murder.
The judge said that the plaintiff could have attempted to learn his identity earlier because she did know at least four of the perpetrators who belonged to the satanic cult that abused her -- including her mother and two brothers.
So she had a responsibility to at least try to find out who her unknown abusers were befrore the time limitations, Judge Franks said. While that may have been nearly impossible for her to do on her own, she should have enlisted an attorney or law enforcement to do the job.
Her attorney, Mark Davis, disagrees and gives this analogy: You're mugged by a masked man. He knocks you out and steals your money. Years or decades later, he is caught and admits to a series of attacks. You recognize him as your mugger. You can sue regardless of the passage of time because the statute of limitations does not start ticking until the minute you know his identity.
* * *
Both sides have logical arguments, in my opinion, but I'm just a lay person and an observer. It will be interesting to see what the judges on the appeals court have to say. But that's going to take a long while.

The dismissal of Survivor Doe and Spouse Doe's civil suit against Toledo priest Gerald Robinson touches on a number of interesting points. (Here's a link.)
Judge Ruth Ann Franks had dismissed the suit previously for statutes of limitations reasons, but the appeals court sent it back. This time Franks addressed the statutes concerns in depth in her 27-page ruling.
The court said the merits of Survivor Doe's claims were not the issue, only whether she filed the lawsuit within the legal time constraints.
Survivor Doe claims she was abused by Robinson in horrifice satanic rituals when she was a child, but didn't know who Robinson was until she saw him on TV after his arrest fopr the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 2004. So that's when the time limits should have started ticking.
The Toledo Catholic Diocese and Robinson's attorneys, by contrast, argued that the time limit for filing had already expired.
One key concern, they argued, is that the victim was required to use due diligence to try to identify her abuser within the state law's time limits (12 years after turning age 18, basically).
She knew some of the others who had abused her, they argued, including her mother, brother, and family friends. So she could have used that information to try to find out who the others were -- such as Robinson and Gerald Mazuchowski. If that was too traumatic for her personally, she should have enlisted help from an attorney or law-enforcement officials.
Franks ruled in the diocese's and robinson's favor, agreeing that the law put the burden of responsibility on the victim to at least try to find out who the perpetrator was before the time limts expired.
* * *
I read the robinson/diocese's motion to dismiss the case and it cited some very bizarre testimony by Survivor Doe and Spouse Doe.
At one point in her suit, for example, she had claimed that the satanic cult carved an upside down cross on her stomach. But her husband said in a deposition that Survivor Doe had carved the inverted cross on her own stomach with a razor blade.
She also said she witnessed her mother, an aspiring high priestess of satan, kill a child in a satanic ritual.
The number of abusers and the kinds of abuses reported by Survivor Doe is extremely disturbing. No matter what happens with her lawsuit, it's clear that this is a very troubled woman who's led a very troubled life.
I'm glad she is getting counseling.
* * *
I've talked to Survivor Doe on the phone twice, both times she called me and spoke very briefly.
She also introduced herself to me at my book-signing at Borders, shortly after "Sin, Shame & Secrets" was published. But again it was nothing more than a cursory conversation.
Even though I've met her and talked to her, I've never been able to question her or talk at length. I would be very interested in sitting down and interviewing Survivor Doe for an article, but I doubt that it's going to happen until every one of her legal avenues has been exhausted. Even then I would say unlikely.

Gerald Robinson, the Toledo priest convicted of murdering a nun, was back in Lucas County Common Pleas Court yesterday for the first time since he was led away in cuffs in 2006.
This time, the priest was watching proceedings by video camera from Hocking Correctional Facility in southern Ohio.
The two-hour hearing was very focused on the fine lines of his legal efforts to get a new trial. Judge Gene Zmuda questioned prosecutor Dean Mandros and defense attorneys Rick Kerger and John Donahue over important legal points that for lay persons sounded like a law school symposium. But of course this is the American system at work, and the weight of the arguments and the ultimate decision by Judge Zmuda affect people's lives in profound ways -- not the least of whom is Gerald Robinson. The judge's ruling will determine whether the priest will walk out of prison a free man, or spend the rest of his life condemned behind bars.
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One of the new issues raised in court yesterday was the discovery of an unknown number -- some say 70 -- police reports from the 1980 investigation into Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's murder that had been misfiled.
Dean Mandros said the information contained in those reports was nothing significant, but so far the judge and the defense attorneys have not reviewed the documents. As Rick Kerger said, he is not doubting Mr. Mandros' integrity but he would like to have the opportunity to make his own determination whether the newly discovered police reports are significant.
Mandros told me they did not include notes from police interviews with Father Swiatecki -- whom Robinson's appeals team asserts is the real killer -- nor the interrogations of Father Robinson, of which no copies have been seen since the cold case reopened its investigation in 2003. Those documents may not even exist because there are some who say the police official charged with filling out the paperwork had a habit of letting the reports slide.
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If Judge Zmuda does grant an evidentiary hearing, that does not mean he feels Robinson deserves a new trial, only that more evidence needs to be reviewed and discussed in the case.
He would then decide whether or not to grant a new trial.
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Arguments by the defense attempting to implicate Father Swiatecki have really dredged up some unflattering allegations.
The deceased priest's former housekeeper, Sister Dorothy Marie Balabush, signed an affidavit on Robinson's behalf saying Fr. Swiatecki was an alcoholic with a "hair trigger," a wood carver who collected knives, and that he deliberately left hard-core pornography out for her to see when he she was scheduled to clean his apartment.
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Late last year, the Ohio Innocence Project tested the DNA of Fr. Swiatecki to compare it to DNA found on Sr. Margaret Ann's fingernails. It was not a match.
That does not prove a whole lot because DNA has not played a role in this case, but one Robinson supporter told me recently that he has doubts about whether the DNA really was from Swiatecki. The prosecutors obtained the DNA sample from the hospital, from lab tests when Swiatecki underwent surgery to have a tumor removed.
The sample could have been mislabeled, the Robinson support suggested.
The only way to be sure would be to exhume the dead priest's body and obtain a new DNA sample.
While it is possible that a lab specimen could be mislabeled, I would consider that a longshot. But then again this is a case full of longshots.
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The gallery at the hearing yesterday was fairly small but there were some Robinson devotees there, including a trio of blue-haired ladies and a couple who are close friends and attended every day of the 2006 trial.

Here is a link to the article that ran today.

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Robinson looked more attentive at yesterday's hearing than he did at his trial in 2006. He looked at the camera, seemed to show interest, and you could see some facial expressions in reaction to testimony.
During the murder trial, he stared blankly, with virtually no expression on his face, almost the entire time. He even seemed to doze off periodically. Many observers thought he was taking some kind of mood-altering drugs or some sedatives, but I've been told by his defense attorneys that was not the case.

Mark Davis, the "Bald Eagle Legal Eagle" (as you'll remember from the TV commercials), filed an appeal yesterday with the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals for Survivor Doe, whose case was dismissed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court for statutes of limitations reasons.

Survivor Doe again is saying that the statutes didn't start ticking until she saw Robinson on TV after his arrest for murder in 2004, and recognized him as the man who abused her in satanic rituals when she was a child.
The diocese and Robinson contend that the statutes expired long before she filed her suit in 2005.

Davis is also arguing that he was denied access to important documents he had requested to bolster his case, while the diocese was granted access to Doe's entire life including medical records and personal journals.

There are some other interesting aspects of this filing that I don't have time for at the moment but will discuss soon. Stay tuned.

I wrote an article about the filing, published today. Here is a link.

This is not a lawsuit or anything directly affecting Father Robinson, but the Toledo police sergeant who arrested the priest for murder retired yesterday.
Sgt. Steve Forrester bid farewell to the department after 27 years on the force, including serving on and then heading the countys' cold-case squad.
Forrester said arresting Robinson was the low point of his career because he is a Catholic and it was so troubling for the church. But he did not let his personal feelings interfere with his job of enforcing the law.
I have the utmost respect for Sergeant Forrester and am sad to see him leave the police department. He seems way too young to retire. But he said he'll be working in the private sector. I'm curious what that will be.. do you think he may start working as an investigator for the Toledo Catholic Diocese?
Here is a link to an article published today about the sergeant's retirement.