August has been a busy time for everyone with so many people going on vacation. PACT has been busy also. On Wednesday, August 19th, we had a presentation from one of the jurors in the Fr. Robinson murder trial. Denise (she has asked us not to provide her last name) talked about how the jury came to a guilty verdict in this trial. Because much of the evidence was not available to the jury, Denise explained that with what they knew at the time, a guilty verdict was the only verdict they felt was proper. Since then, Denise has become aware of evidence that was not made available to them at the time of the trial. Although she didn’t want to speak for any of the other jurors, she said that if this evidence would have been available to the jury, Denise is not sure the jurors would have come to the same verdict as they did. Denise repeatedly said she would never want to have the future of someone’s life in her hands again and told of many sleepless nights struggling to come to terms with the trial and their verdict.
Although the majority of the audience thought that Fr. Robinson was innocent of the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, they were respectful of Denise’s presentation. Many in the audience had lengthy and probing questions for Denise. She answered them truthfully and to the best of her recollection given that it has been a few years since the trial occurred.
Even though Denise asked that her last name not be mentioned because of threatening phone calls and mail, the Blade published her full name in an article in their paper the next morning about Denise and her PACT appearance. This article has stirred up some controversy as evidenced by the letters to the editor in the Blade.
PACT wished to thank Denise for having the courage to talk in front of what she probably knew was a pro-Fr. Robinson crowd. We also would like to thank the capacity crowd for being respectful and for containing their anger at what they see as an improper verdict.
PACT has also been busy this month getting ready for our showing of “KATYN” in October, which is Polish History Month. To view information about this movie, click here. View our flier on the front page of this website. For questions about the movie or where to purchase tickets, please call 419.356.1811, 419.351.7707 or send inquiries to info@polishcommunity.org.
