The foreman of a jury that last week awarded a Maryland man $3.6 million in a case of sexual abuse by a priest says the current Vermont Catholic bishop’s attitude during a videotaped sworn statement may have hurt the church’s case.
Jury Foreman Andrew Pearson says that in the taped deposition of Bishop Salvatore Matano, he thought Matano showed no remorse, no emotion and no real regret over what the victims had gone through.
After last week’s verdict, an emotional Matano seemed to take some of the blame onto himself for the outcome of the trial, as well as one in May in which a jury awarded a Colorado man almost $9 million.
Pearson said later that those comments appeared to mark a change in the bishop, and that he appeared to be accepting responsibility.