Introduction

In the early 1990s, it was well known in and around Keene, New Hampshire that the local Catholic diocese was paying huge sums of money to young men claiming to have been abused by their childhood priests. Tom Grover, a drug addict and alcoholic with neither a job nor prospects,
looked to his own payday. Grover accused father Gordon MacRae of having molested him as a teenager, and sued the New Hampshire diocese. He won nearly $200,000 dollars for his efforts and his testimony convicted MacRae of terrible crimes.

There was no evidence to support Grover’s claims, other than his testimony. There was not a single witness to the acts alleged in Grover’s stories of molestation though they were to have happened in busy, populated places. The convictions – and the money – turned on Grover’s performance.

Recently, newly discovered evidence has revealed that before trial, Grover admitted to friends and family that his accusations were lies manufactured for diocese cash, and that he would, and did commit perjury at MacRae’s trial. Those people have also reported Grover’s conduct after he got his money – conduct that included more admissions of perjury, and that undermines any notion that his stories were anything but lies.

In addition to Grover’s overall fraud on the criminal justice system, review of the record in the light and context of the new evidence also reveals a trial marked by actions and inaction of defense counsel that not only undermined the defense, but served the state, and assured the conviction.

The conviction here came during a period of time that has since been widely recognized as fostering a wave in sexual abuse accusations and convictions – often in cases in which the claimed acts were objectively impossible, but also in cases like this, in which accusations were technically
possible, but objectively unlikely. As Grover admitted to his friends and family, his efforts toward MacRae’s conviction were based on that wave of false convictions. Thus, as those times largely gone by nourished the prosecution and fostered the conviction, a measured and historically aware review reveals that it was unjust and must be vacated.

You may read the entire brief by clicking here.

We will post the reply brief when it becomes available.

For more about Father MacRae and this case, visit These Stone Walls.

We need more prosecutors like Craig Watkins and Mike Ware. Mike is now working on the Four Lives Lost case, sponsored by the NCRJ.

Mr. Gary Lanigan, Commissioner
Department of Corrections
POB 863
Trenton NJ 08625

Dear Commissioner Lanigan,

The National Center for Reason and Justice (NCRJ) is a 501 (c)(3) organization that fights for justice and due process of law. Our focus is those who have been falsely accused or wrongfully convicted of crimes against children.

Recently, one of our supporters sent us a copy of a disturbing letter he had received from an inmate at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC) in Avenel, New Jersey.

We are very concerned. Outraged, would be a better word. The letter describes an institutional shakedown on November 3^rd by the Special Operations Group (SOG). The letter details needless destruction of property and cruel and unlawful physical assault and battery, as well as various forms of gross psychological abuse inflicted by those in positions of power upon those powerless to redress the abuse. We understand that the abuses were documented in many grievances and incident reports filed by inmates, therapists, and custody staff.

We also understand that SOG complained about the policy of the ADTC that permits participants of the Hobby and Music programs to keep music and art supplies in their housing areas. Confining these materials to the Art and Music rooms would effectively kill these valuable therapeutic programs, because the Art and Music rooms lack the space and time slots to accommodate all of the participating inmates. We hope that you will not alter the current polices.

Our primary concern, however, is the violent and unlawful behavior of SOG staff. A full and fair investigation of the events of November 3^rd is in order. We urge your office to take action to assure that such atrocities do not recur, at ADTC or elsewhere within the New Jersey Correctional System. Apologies must be issued and restitution must be afforded. We also demand an investigation into the history and suitability of some of your staff members to hold positions of public trust and responsibility.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Chatelle
Executive Director, National Center for Reason and Justice

Here is the inmate’s letter.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2011/10/06/20939/banks-skin/

From the New York Times