BBC NEWS Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific Arabic Spanish Russian Chinese Welsh
BBCi CATEGORIES   TV   RADIO   COMMUNICATE   WHERE I LIVE   INDEX    SEARCH 

BBC NEWS
 You are in: World: Americas
Front Page 
World 
Africa 
Americas 
Asia-Pacific 
Europe 
Middle East 
South Asia 
-------------
From Our Own Correspondent 
-------------
Letter From America 
UK 
UK Politics 
Business 
Sci/Tech 
Health 
Education 
Entertainment 
Talking Point 
In Depth 
AudioVideo 


Commonwealth Games 2002

BBC Sport

BBC Weather

SERVICES 
Tuesday, 24 July, 2001, 22:52 GMT 23:52 UK
Confession clears man of murder
Reverend Joseph Towle
Rev Towle leaving court
A man convicted of murder has been released from prison after a Roman Catholic priest testified that another man had confessed the crime to him twelve years ago.

Jose Morales, 31, was convicted in 1988 for the stabbing to death of Jose Antonio Rivera in the South Bronx.

In a highly unusual step, Reverend Joseph Towle last week took the witness stand in an appeal hearing after the Archdiocese of New York ruled that his actions could be central to an appeal against a life sentence.


Why would he lie to the priest? It makes no sense

Appeal court judge
The sixty-five-year-old priest kept quiet for twelve years because he considered the confession made to him confidential.

But when he realised it was central to a federal court appeal, he questioned whether it was a sacramental confession as defined by Roman Catholic law, then went into the witness box.

'Not at scene'

Reverend Towle described how back in 1989, Jesus Fornes, a sixteen-year-old member of a gang in his tough South Bronx neighbourhood, had told him that he was involved in the killing, and that the two men in jail for the murder had not even been at the scene.

Mr Fornes was killed four years ago.

Mr Morales has now had his sentence quashed; the second man is still waiting for his appeal to be decided.

The case largely turned on the definition of what a religious confession was, and whether it was admissible in court.

Reverend Towle, who admitted he gave the young man absolution, argued that their meeting was more like a heart-to-heart conversation than a traditional confession in a church.

Some scholars of religious law are already questioning the definition, saying a confession is a confession, and that the priest has breached the sanctity of the confidence told him.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to deny Morales bail, arguing that Fornes' statements to Towle were unreliable.

Judge Denny Chin disagreed.

"Why would he lie to the priest? ... It makes no sense," Judge Chin said.

Prosecutors said they would fight to reinstate Morales' conviction.

Internet links:


The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Links to more Americas stories are at the foot of the page.


E-mail this story to a friend

Links to more Americas stories