An attorney for Gerald F. Griffith, the Woodlawn pastor charged with sexually abusing an underage parishioner in several Columbia hotels, filed a motion this week arguing the case should be tossed out because a Howard County prosecutor “violated a pretrial agreement.”
The case reached court last month, but Circuit Judge Diane Leasure declared a mistrial after the witness, whom Griffith allegedly abused on three occasions in 2004 and 2005, responded to defense attorney Joseph Murtha during cross-examination saying, “But that happened in Baltimore County!”
The outburst, Murtha wrote in a motion filed this week, violated the terms of a pretrial agreement stipulating that prosecutors could not speak of allegations from Baltimore County – where the pastor is charged with sexually abusing three underage parishioners, including the victim in the Howard case – during the March 6 jury trial.
Murtha could not be reached for comment.
The state, in its opposing response, argued that Murtha was responsible for the breach. It was his line of questioning that led to the victim’s mention of Baltimore County allegations, states attorneys wrote.
“The defendant cannot even point to any State action that directly resulted in mistrial.”
If Leasure rules with the state, Griffith?s retrial could be in May.
The victim, now 18, helped out at the church and was a parishioner from the time he was 5 years old until he was 16. He began counseling sessions with Griffith in 2003, with his mother’s knowledge, according to court papers.
He told police Griffith had been counseling him for behavior problems, such as “messing with too many females” and “just acting up.”
Griffith at one point approached the boy and told him that he was “struggling with a homosexual spirit and that the Lord had shown Griffith how to confront it,” according to court papers.
In Baltimore County, Griffith – whom many in his congregation have dubbed “The Apostle” – faces sex abuse of a minor, perverted practice, sodomy and assault charges.
