Friday Morning After The Prosecution Rested Its Case

Will Lynch took the stand Friday and admitted he assaulted the priest he claims raped him more than 35 years ago. But Lynch, charged with two felonies in a case that's drawn national attention, said he did not plan to attack the Rev. Jerold Lindner when he went in 2010 to the Sacred Heart Jesuit retirement center in Los Gatos where the priest lives. He testified instead, in words that riveted the packed courtroom, that he punched Lindner when the priest "looked up and leered at me, the same look in his eyes as when he had molested me, when he raped and tortured me." "I hit him more than once," admitted Lynch, who began his testimony Friday morning after the prosecution rested its case. It was Lynch's first public account of the notorious confrontation. He is accused of two felonies that together carry a maximum sentence of four years -- assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. Lynch refused to negotiate a plea deal, which would have jailed him for no more than a year, because he wanted to "out" Lindner and expose clergy sex abuse. Lynch's testimony in a Santa Clara County courtroom could help prosecutor Vicki Gemetti argue he is guilty of committing at least misdemeanor assault. Assault requires only a showing that the defendant intended to do the act prohibited by Lynch admitted his role right away, saying, "I'm not going to insult the jury, I did meet with Lindner inside the guest parlor," and acknowledging he hit him "more than once." law, not that the defendant intended the precise harm or the precise result that occurred. In the case against Lynch, the only defenses are either that the assault was done in self-defense, or it was done by someone else. 

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