Sanctity of Confessional?
Are Church Confessions Safe? Court To Hear Arguments
detroit.cbslocal.com ^ | 2/8/12 | cbs Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - In a case that could set national precedent, the three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel plans to hear arguments Thursday about whether a pastor’s testimony related to a possible confession in a child sexual assault case may be used in court.
According to court documents, Samuel Bragg confessed in 2009 to the Rev. John Vaprezsan at Metro Baptist Church in Belleville about the 2007 assault of a 9-year-old girl when he was 15. Vaprezsan testified last March in the case against Bragg, who is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Bragg was 17 years old in 2009 when he went with his mother to speak with Vaprezsan. They deny that he made a confession. After earlier hearing an allegation from the girl’s mother and then speaking with Bragg, Vaprezsan gave a statement to police.
Vaprezsan’s testimony came over the objections of Bragg’s attorney at a preliminary examination in 34th District Court in Romulus. The girl also testified.
Farmington Hills attorney Ray Cassar, who represents Bragg, said putting a pastor on the stand eliminates a person’s presumption of innocence.
“If the pastor is allowed to testify, think about what it would do to the burden of proof. I mean, you’re presumed innocent and if a pastor gets up on the stand to testify, most of the jury members are going to take his word, and I think that eliminates the presumption of innocence,” Cassar told WWJ’s Roberta Jasina.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave Gosse on -
Hi James
This raises more than a few questions.
Bragg was 17 years old in 2009 when he went with his mother to speak with Vaprezsan. They deny that he made a confession. After earlier hearing an allegation from the girl’s mother and then speaking with Bragg, Vaprezsan gave a statement to police.
Was the Pastor conduction an investigation and interviewing a suspect or was he accepting "confession" in the Biblical sense of the word? Since the boy and his mother both deny he made a confession could it be that something the boy said was tantamount to confessing his guilt but that the boy still denied any wrongdoing in the incident (keep in mind that most people no longer consider adultery [in all its possible permutations] wrongdoing.) Perhaps the boy said it was not assault because she didn't resist and he didn't use force. Perhaps he just thought he was studying for his next sex-ed class.
Farmington Hills attorney Ray Cassar, who represents Bragg, said putting a pastor on the stand eliminates a person’s presumption of innocence.
“If the pastor is allowed to testify, think about what it would do to the burden of proof. I mean, you’re presumed innocent and if a pastor gets up on the stand to testify, most of the jury members are going to take his word, and I think that eliminates the presumption of innocence,” Cassar told WWJ’s Roberta Jasina.
Interesting that, despite all the bad press, the vilification if movies, television, and popular culture, ministers of the Gospel are still considered such reliable witnesses to the truth that an attourney thinks their testimony is beyond question. Go figure.
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Permalink Reply by James Robertson on -
Yep. Many questions.
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