Confidentiality Is Urged for Comments at Retreat
GREAT FALLS, Mont.--Attorneys for Alan Reavley say they’ll fight prosecutors’ attempts to use his comments at a Roman Catholic retreat to convict Reavley of a double murder 37 years ago.
Such comments are privileged and confidential, just as a confession to a priest is confidential, defense attorney Jeff Sutton said.
Cascade County Atty. Brant Light says courts should hear witness reports that Reavley broke down crying at a 1994 retreat and said he had once “killed some people” as a young man.
Light believes those people were Jim and Lois Arrotta, who were stabbed to death in a bungled 1964 burglary. Sutton said Reavley denies any involvement in the crime.
Great Falls detectives questioned 200 participants in Catholic retreats that Reavley attended.
Confidentiality in retreats is important, said the Rev. Jay Peterson, vicar general of the local Catholic diocese. However, the diocese didn’t hesitate when police detectives asked for names of participants at Cursillo retreats over the last decade or so, Peterson said.
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