Trial date set for former New Orleans priest Lawrence Hecker
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A trial date has been set in the sexual abuse case against former New Orleans priest Lawrence Hecker.
The trial will begin on Sept. 24, pending additional information from the court-appointed psychiatrist.
“We’re getting very close to the rubber meeting the road, I think, in this case, and I think the most important takeaway today was that trial day,” said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams.
At a competency hearing on Thursday, Aug. 8, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard stated that Hecker had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia with mild cognitive impairment.
According to the judge, the report detailing the results of Hecker’s latest evaluation doesn’t clarify if Hecker is competent to stand trial.
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Both the state and the defense hoped the psychiatrist would attend the hearing to testify.
“My understanding is that [the psychiatrist is] stuck in a hearing upstairs, but we have her report, and I’m confident that report is consistent with other reports that, that means that this individual is competent to stand trial,” Williams said.
The judge said the trial date could turn into a status hearing if he’s briefed further on Hecker’s competency.
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Aaron Hebert, a man who filed a civil lawsuit, alleging he was sexually assaulted by Hecker decades ago, embraced the district attorney following the hearing.
“I’m grateful to the courts today, to the judge who gave at least a trial date of September 24,” said Hebert. “The melancholy, in a way, [is] knowing that the trial date is going to come, but there’s also a what-if factor.”
Williams says even if there’s another delay in the case, he and his team remain focused on a conviction.
“Mr. Hecker, he has a price to pay, and I look forward to questioning him,” Williams said. “I hope he takes the stand.”
Hecker is facing charges of faces charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping, crimes against nature and theft.
A grand jury indicted him on those charges in September 2023, after the surfacing of a 1999 surfaced, containing what is believed to be his confession of sexually molesting and harming several teenagers between 1966 and 1972.
The retired priest pled not guilty.
Hecker last appeared in court on July 11 after several delays, where a psychiatrist recommended he should be tested for dementia.
If the trial proceeds and Hecker is found guilty, he faces a life sentence.
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