As we (still) await the decision of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on the Berry girls' appeal, a timeline of the events up until now is appropriate.
TIMELINE OF BERRY GIRLS CASE
1997 -- Holly Brewer (incorrectly called "Holly Berry" in NH Supreme Court filings) returns to New Hampshire after running away from home, and for the first time discloses the brutal sexual assualts suffered during her childhood by then-stepfather Paul Berry (by this time divorced from her mother Sarah, now Sarah Poisson, for a number of years). She finally finds the courage to report the assualts to police. Paul Berry is eventually arrested and charged with 17 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and 4 additional counts of felonious sexual assault. It takes nearly 4 years for the case to come to trial.
June 2000--Paul Berry finally goes on trial on the 21 counts. He and his JW friends are confident he will be cleared. But, when the verdict comes down, he is convicted by a jury on all 21 counts, and jailed immediately pending sentence. Sarah Poisson (also the victim of physical abuse by Berry) and Holly Brewer cry as they relate "how powerful it was to finally be believed."
October 2000--At Paul Berry's sentencing hearing, Holly, her half sister Heather Berry, and Sarah Poisson all relate the horrors they suffered again. 30 members of Paul Berry's JW congregation testify as character witnesses for him, hoping to persaude the judge that he deserves leniency. But the judge is not impressed and throws the book at Berry, handing down consecutive prison sentences totalling a minimum of 56 years and a maximum of 112--one of the stiffest sentences even given for any sexual assault case in New Hampshire. His attorney, Mark Sisti, insists Berry is innocent and vows to appeal.
Read the transcript of the sentencing hearing: http://www.silentlambs.org/education/pberry.cfm
August 2001--With the help of Jeffrey Anderson, arguably the most successful litigator in the United States in the specialty of suing churches for sexual abuse, the Berry girls file suit against the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., and the local congregation, charging that gross negligence was committed when the congregation elders learned of the abuse from Sarah at the time it was happening and failed to comply with a state law requiring that child abuse be reported, or otherwise take reasonable steps to help stop the abuse.
http://www.silentlambs.org/education/witnesses_accused.cfm
May 8, 2002--Paul Berry's appeal is argued before the New Hampshire Supreme Court. His attorneys allege that he should be granted a new trial because evidence of prior bad acts was admitted that wrongly prejudiced the jury, and because the judge barred the testimony of two witnesses who would have testified that Holly had a reputation for untruthfulness.
May 28, 2002--In the United States, the Berry girls are featured briefly on a Dateline NBC program that examines the issue of sexual abuse within Jehovah's Witnesses.
July 14, 2002--In the U.K., BBC Panorama presents the program "Suffer the Little Children", also examining in depth the sexual abuse issue within Jehovah's Witnesses, and featuing an extensive and poignant review of the Berry girls' saga and then-ongoing civil case.
July 23, 2002--The NH Supreme Court denies Paul Berry's appeal, fully upholding his conviction and sentence. The justices find that neither of the claimed trial errors are grounds for a new trial.
http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2002/0207/berry076.htm
January 2003--In Canada, the Fifth Estate program examines the sexual abuse issue again, and like Panorama also features an in-depth review of the Berry girls' saga. Vicki Boer is also mentioned.
February 2003--In a major victory for the Berry girls and the other Silent Lambs, the trial judge for the civil suit, William Groff, denies Watchtower's motion to dismiss the case, making a landmark ruling that the elders did owe a duty to report the abuse or otherwise take reasonable steps. Watchtower promises further motions to dismiss by means of summary judgment, on grounds that the elders were exempt from reporting because they received knowledge of the abuse during confidential pastoral communications (a.k.a., "clergy privilege").
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/47474/1.ashx
May 2003--Further pre-trial hearings are held on the Watchtower motions to dismiss.
Early June 2003--Bill Bowen of Silentlambs is summoned by Watchtower's attorneys to give his deposition for the case (since he wants to testify for Holly and Heather as an expert witness), and is none too pleased with what he experiences.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/53368/1.ashx
June 2003--In a severe blow to the Silent Lambs, Judge Groff grants Watchtower's motion for summary judgment (dismissal of the lawsuit on grounds that there is no genuine issue of material fact for a jury to decide). He does so on grounds that the elders' conversatons with Sarah Poisson were, indeed, privileged and confidential under the law applying to clergy/ministers, also partially on grounds that no duty was owed under the particular circumstances (as further revealed in the hearings since the February 2003 decision). Attorneys for the Berry girls promise to appeal.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/54228/1.ashx
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/54434/1.ashx
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/54485/1.ashx
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/55064/1.ashx
(June 2003 was also the month the Silent Lambs received another severe blow to their efforts when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4, in the case of Stogner v. California, that states could not retroactively extend a criminal statute of limitations that had already expired, no, not even for such crimes as child sexual abuse where the victim usually takes years and years to even fully realize what happened, let alone become emotionally strong enough to pursue a criminal case. It was also the month of the disappointing verdict in the Vicky Boer case. In other words, June 2003 was not a good month for the Silent Lambs all the way round.)
December 2003--The appeal of Judge Groff's dismissal of the case is filed with the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
February 2004--The NH Supreme Court officially accepts the case, with oral arguments to be scheduled.
March 2004--In a related case, the Silent Lambs receive another blow when the Minnesota Court of Appeals upholds the dismissal (summary judgment) in a very similar JW sex abuse case, that of Heidi Meyer. The JW attorneys, of course, scramble to use this new precedent in their fight against the Silent Lambs (along with that of the Maine Supreme Court in its 1999 decision in Rees v. Watchtower).
October 20, 2004--The NH Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Berry girls' appeal. The girls are represented by Marci Hamilton, also a columnist on sexual abuse issues; her presentation is knowledgeable and articulate as she powerfully argues for reinstatement of the case, insisting that there was nothing unreasonable about requiring the elders to make a simple phone call to report the abuse and that the judge was mistaken in applying clergy privilege. Watchtower's attorney, Donald Gardner, does not comes across quite as articulate.
Listen to the entire oral argument session here:
http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/recordings/2004/2003-0779.mp3
(Sometime in 2005 yet to be determined)--The NH Supreme Court hands down its decision on the Berry girls' appeal, and that decision is:
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