| ||||
|
| ||||
BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- A judge Wednesday temporarily denied a bail request for the man accused of shooting a Catholic priest, deferring a final decision on the suspect's release from jail until the judge has had a chance to consider the suspect's mental health.
District Judge H. Gary Bass said he would issue a ruling Friday on whether bail would be granted for Dontee Stokes, 26. He is accused of shooting the Rev. Maurice Blackwell, whom Stokes has accused of molesting him years earlier.
The state's attorney argued against bail, calling Stokes a flight risk, but Stokes said he was not going anywhere.
"I'm not a flight risk. I'm not a risk to myself," he said, appearing via video from a detention facility. "I may be depressed, but I'm not suicidal."
Responded Bass, "What you say may very well be true, but I would feel better hearing what the doctor has to say."
Blackwell was shot Monday evening outside his home. He remains in serious but stable condition at a Baltimore area hospital with gunshot wounds to his hand and hip.
Police said Stokes turned himself in on Monday and confessed to shooting the priest.
Family and friends of Stokes say he was deeply troubled by the alleged molestation and wanted only an apology when he confronted Blackwell.
In an interview with CNN, his mother, Tamara Stokes, said her son, who alleged that Blackwell sexually abused him when he was a teenager in the early 1990s, had become increasingly agitated by news coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. (Full story)
"He would get very upset, and he would sometimes get out of control," she said. "He was definitely in a different state of mind."
Stokes said her son shot Blackwell, 56, after he was "brushed off and laughed at."
Outside the court, she affirmed her love for her son. "I believed him from day one and am still here with him."
Tiffany Taft, Stokes' girlfriend and mother of his 20-month-old daughter, said she saw Stokes shortly before the shooting, but had no idea of his plans
She said, however, that he was troubled by the alleged molestation, which Stokes had reported to police, who investigated it, along with the Archdiocese of Baltimore, in 1993. Officials ruled there was not enough evidence to act against Blackwell.
Taft said the alleged molestation was a "touchy subject" for Stokes.
"He never got into details with it. ... It affected him a lot," Taft said, struggling for her words. "He's a good person and this is shocking to me and everybody else."
In another development Wednesday related to the allegations of pedophilia rocking the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of New York announced it was revising its policy on sexual misconduct by priests and will report to prosecutors all allegations of abuse involving children.
'He was very calm'
After Blackwell's shooting, Stokes went to another church, pastored by the Rev. Russell Johnson. He came down to the altar, began to cry and asked for a private meeting to confess his sins, Johnson told CNN.
At that point, Stokes volunteered to go to police and tell them that he had shot Blackwell, Johnson said.
"He was very calm. He was very well within his mind," Johnson said. "He valiantly and courageously said, 'I must give an account for what I have done.'"
Police said Stokes confessed to the shooting, which left Blackwell in serious condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Although still a priest, Blackwell was removed from his parish assignment in 1998 and suspended because of a separate allegation of abuse from another alleged victim, a minor, according to a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Cardinal William Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore, said he was "appalled" by the shooting and offered his prayers for both Blackwell and Stokes.
"I think it is a tragedy that another episode of violence has occurred in our city. We have too much of that tragedy, and we have too much violence in our world today," he said.
While in a car on his way to his girlfriend's home, Stokes said, he drove past Blackwell on the street. He drove back in front of the priest's home and tried to talk to him, but Blackwell refused.
At that point, Stokes -- who had accused Blackwell of molesting him several years ago -- told police he didn't "know what came over him" and he fired three shots at the priest before fleeing the scene.
The shooting happened at about 6 p.m., and Stokes turned himself in several hours later. He also led detectives to where he had placed the weapon, a .357-caliber Magnum handgun, and ammunition.
Stokes was charged with attempted murder, assault in the first and second degrees, and several handgun violations. Police said that Stokes has no prior criminal record with Baltimore police.
Allegations against priest dismissed by police, church
 | |
| Maurice Blackwell | |
The shooting resurrected allegations from 1993 that Blackwell had molested Stokes over a three-year period while Stokes attended Bible study classes at St. Edward's Catholic Church, where he led a youth group.
Investigations into those charges by both police and church officials proved inconclusive, according to Ray Kempisty, a spokesman for the archdiocese. Kempisty did not say publicly that Stokes was the alleged victim in that 1993 investigation, but a police source confirmed that was the case.
Blackwell was allowed to return to his parish duties after the 1993 investigation and after he received mental health treatment, Kempisty said.
Tamara Stokes said that after Blackwell was allowed to return to the church, she personally confronted parishioners at St. Edward's who were supporting him.
"I confronted the parishioners and said, 'This church does not need this priest back in here. People need to look at the facts. People need to come forward,'" she said.
Blackwell was removed from his post in 1998 after a new accusation of "inappropriate activity" with a minor, Kempisty said. That accusation was determined to be "credible" by church officials, although the police investigation did not lead to any criminal charges.
Kempisty rejected suggestions that the archdiocese had improperly handled the investigations of Blackwell. He pointed out that under Maryland law, allegations of child abuse by church officials must be reported to civil authorities, and in both cases they were.
The archdiocese and the Catholic Church (are) saddened as we would be with any act of violence," he said. "Violence is not the proper response to any situation."
There are approximately 1.5 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which includes the city and nine Maryland counties.
Blackwell was ordained as a priest in 1974.