Saturday April 9, 2005 1:46 PM
By SARAH BRUMFIELD
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) - Less than two months after he was convicted of molesting a boy who later shot him, defrocked priest Maurice Blackwell was granted a new trial by a judge who said testimony about other alleged victims was inappropriate.
In a case where ``credibility is a critical issue,'' Circuit Judge Stuart R. Berger wrote, the witnesses ``improperly attempted to enhance the credibility of the state's critical witness by injecting references to other victims.''
The state's attorney's office said Friday that prosecutors will review the opinion and decide whether to retry the case.
Blackwell, 58, was convicted of three counts of abusing Dontee Stokes, a former parishioner who shot Blackwell in 2002, nearly a decade after the alleged abuse. Stokes, 29, was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted on gun charges.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4925001,00.html