Lynch found not guilty of assaulting priest
SAN JOSE, Calif. — After more than three days of deliberations, a jury has found a man charged with beating a priest he claimed molested him as a youth not guilty of two of three counts against him.
The Santa Clara County Superior Court jury found William Lynch not guilty of one count of assault and one count of elder abuse. The jurors deadlocked 8-4 on a lesser assault charge and the judge declared a mistrial on that count.
Lynch testified last Friday that he punched Rev. Jerold Lindner after memories of the alleged sexual abuse came flooding back across the decades and were so vivid that he felt threatened.
While he is the defendant in Santa Clara County court, his lawyers have attempted to put the retired priest on trial in the court of public opinion. The attorneys are using the alleged abuse in 1975 as a defense for the pummeling of Lindner on May 10, 2010. Lynch testified Friday that memories of the alleged abuse triggered a violent reaction when he confronted the retired priest on that afternoon.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/jury-reaches-verdict-lynch-priest-assault-case/nPnD8/