NEW ORLEANS — Almost a year after his arrest, alleged pedophile priest Lawrence Hecker will not yet stand trial.
In his court appearance Thursday, doctors were supposed to announce whether or not Hecker was mentally competent to stand trial, instead, they said Hecker needs to be evaluated for dementia, as according to them, he's shown signs of short-term memory loss and issues with focus.
The announcement caused frustration in the courtroom. Lawyers for the alleged victim and the District Attorney's office, believe this is just another tactical delay.
"I think the facts are very clear in the case. What’s not clear is why it took so long to get this case in a courtroom," District Attorney Jason Williams said.
"Lawrence Hecker was able to answer reporter questions and extensive questions and had no problem doing that and that’s all his lawyers are going to do. If he can do it with investigative journalists and he can do it with civil lawyers, he can certainly do it up her."
Hecker was arrested last September for charges that include aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft. Since then, his health has been in question. The District Attorney's office says though, most of those issues had been resolved according to medical records.
"What [records] showed is a man who improved over the course of treatment," Andre Gaudin, Chief of Screening for the DA's office said.
"Issues with inability to communicate and know what's going on around him, largely resolved, so this further delay is frustrating for us, frustrating for the victims, the numerous victims we know he has so deeply affected with his crimes."
Richard Trahant, lawyer for the alleged victim says justice must come before it's too late not just for Hecker, but also for those who covered up his alleged crimes.
"This guy should’ve been in jail in the 60s in the 70s the 80s 90s the 200s the 2010s do I know this? Yeah," Trahant said. "Yeah everybody I have the documents, I read the documents and I wish the entire public, particularly the catholic faithful, could see these documents to know what their shepherd and the hierarchy of this organization has done to promote and protect child rapists."
Findings of the dementia workup should be revealed in court on August 8. Lawyers say short-term memory loss shouldn't deem Hecker unable to stand trial.
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