{"id":291105,"date":"2018-09-26T09:22:37","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=291105"},"modified":"2018-09-26T09:22:37","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:22:37","slug":"credibly-accused-minnesota-priest-sues-his-accuser-and-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2018\/09\/credibly-accused-minnesota-priest-sues-his-accuser-and-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Credibly accused’ Minnesota priest sues his accuser \u2014 and wins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Pixabay\/Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

This is something you don\u2019t hear about every day.<\/p>\n

From Minnesota Lawyer:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a man-bites-dog case with few if any precise corollaries, a Roman Catholic priest designated as \u201ccredibly accused\u201d of sexual misconduct by the Diocese of Duluth just last April has successfully sued the man who made the allegations against him.<\/p>\n

After a three-day trial before 6th Judicial District Court Judge Theresa Neo, an eight-member jury awarded the Rev. William Graham $13,500 to compensate him for the $500 monthly stipend he did not receive during the period from May 2016, when he was placed on administrative leave from his job as parish priest at St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Church in Duluth, to August 2018, when the trial was held.<\/p>\n

In answers to questions listed on a special verdict form, the jury said that Graham\u2019s accuser, former Duluth police officer T. J. Davis, Jr., \u201cintentionally interfered\u201d with Graham\u2019s employment and, further, that his actions were not justified.<\/p>\n

But the jury also found that Davis\u2019 conduct was not \u201cso extreme and outrageous that it passed the boundaries of decency and was utterly intolerable to a civilized community\u201d and it expressly declined to award additional damages that would \u201cfairly compensate\u201d Graham.<\/p>\n

What is one to make of such an odd, seemingly contradictory verdict?<\/p>\n

Michael Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant, who served as lead defense counsel and has since filed a notice of appeal, did not respond to Minnesota Lawyer\u2019s request for comment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Abbott<\/a><\/strong> unpacks the case, and includes this August statement from the diocese:<\/p>\n