Shanley accuser concludes testimony

CAMBRIDGE -- A day after he pleaded with a judge not to make him return to the witness stand, the man who accuses defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley of sexually abusing him as a child came back to court yesterday to complete his testimony, submitting to the final hour of what was a grueling cross-examination.

The strongest emotions yesterday came from a different witness: the accuser's wife, who broke down while recounting her husband's behavior in February 2002, when he allegedly began remembering years of abuse by Shanley at St. Jean Parish in Newton.

Asked to recall the first night of a visit home from her husband, who was then her fiancé and was stationed by the Air Force in Colorado, the 23-year-old woman began to cry. She clutched a tissue and, in a near whisper, said, ''I'm so sorry."

Superior Court Judge Stephen E. Neel asked her to stop and sent the jury from the room, the second day in a row the judge halted proceedings so a witness could regain composure. When court resumed, she continued her testimony, still sobbing softly.

''He had soaked the sheets with sweat," she said. ''He got on the floor, curled up in a ball. He shook."

''What did you do?" prosecutor Lynn Rooney asked.

''Tried to hold him," the woman said. ''But he wouldn't let me."

Earlier in the day, defense lawyer Frank Mondano called for a mistrial, saying the emotional atmosphere of the Middlesex Superior Court trial -- including a dramatic episode Thursday, when the alleged victim collapsed into sobs on the witness stand -- made it impossible for the jury to be impartial. Neel denied the motion.

The accuser, now 27, has described being raped and fondled by Shanley between the ages of 6 and 11 in church pews, the bathroom, the rectory, and elsewhere. He says he repressed the memories for years, until hearing news reports about Shanley in 2002.

After Thursday's seven-hour cross-examination, in which Mondano aggressively challenged those recollections, the defense lawyer's queries yesterday were less combative. When Mondano finished his questioning, the accuser's facial expression changed from a tight frown to a smile.

The Globe does not identify victims of sexual abuse without their consent.

Mondano briefly cross-examined the man's wife, focusing on when her husband retained lawyer Roderick ''Eric" MacLeish Jr. as part of a class-action civil suit against the Boston Archdiocese. The man was awarded a $500,000 settlement in the case in April 2004; Mondano says that the alleged victim made the accusation in hope of financial gain.

Shanley, 74, faces three charges of raping a child and two charges of indecent assault and battery on a child. He could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty.

The jury also heard yesterday from John F. Drozd, a clinical psychologist who worked at the accuser's Colorado Air Force base and treated the man hours after he allegedly recovered his memories of abuse. Drozd testified that the man came to him with feelings of ''anger, depression, rage, sadness, and vulnerability." He recommended changing the man's mental health status, saying he was unfit for his job as a security officer.

Mondano's cross-examination focused on the timing of Drozd's treatment in relation to the alleged victim's contact with lawyers. Drozd testified that he told the accuser to write his thoughts. Mondano said in court Thursday every entry in the journal begins with ''Memo to Eric MacLeish."

Mondano also said Drozd's notes show that the day after the accuser allegedly recovered the memories, he wanted to return to Boston to consult his lawyer. The accuser has said he did not hire MacLeish until more than a week later.