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Shanley Arraignment Ends

Aired May 07, 2002 - 10:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: More action to talk about this morning in yet another courtroom. We've got three of them right now on our docket this morning, if you will.

Just moments ago, a retired Roman Catholic priest at the center of the sexual abuse scandal appeared last hour in a Boston courtroom. Paul Shanley is accused of raping a boy over a seven-year period beginning back in the 1980s.

And our Jason Carroll has been following this sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church. Let's check in with him now. Jason joins us live from Boston this morning -- hello, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Leon.

As you said, the arraignment for Father Paul Shanley ended just a short while ago. Basically what happened is he was read the charges that he facing. The judge asked him if he understood the charges. He answered, yes.

And then at that point, the deputy district attorney argued for bail. She said she wanted bail to be set at $750,000, saying that Father Shanley is a tremendous risk of flight. And then she explained part of the reason why. She provided the court with documents that were provided to her by the Archdiocese of Boston, documents which she says shows that Shanley had indicated that he wanted to move to Costa Rica, to Mexico, to Guatemala.

She had also indicated that as recently as March, Father Shanley was in Thailand, and therefore she said that given all of that that he was definitely a risk of flight.

Then what happened after that is Shanley's attorney, Frank Mondano, argued that Father Shanley should not be perceived as being a risk of flight, saying that he is an elderly man in poor health. Then he continued to explain to the court why Father Shanley should be granted bail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK MONDANO, ATTORNEY FOR SHANLEY: This is a 71-year-old man, who is in not the greatest of physical health, who has no inclination to run, nowhere for him to run, but has absolutely no criminal record at all in the 71 years of his life. He is here to face the charges, Your Honor. He made plans to face the charges, Your Honor. He retained counsel 3,000 miles away to make appearances even before he was arrested. I submit, Your Honor, he is no risk of flight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: His attorney also argued that Shanley also has roots in this community. He said that he has 11 nieces and nephews in the Massachusetts area, and therefore he did not present a risk of flight.

In the end, the judge set bail at $750,000 providing certain conditions. She said -- she told Shanley that if is he able to meet bail, that would he have to surrender his passport. He would also have to remain in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. She also said that he should not have any contact with children under the age of 16, nor should he have any contact with anyone connected to the case -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, speaking of those connected to this case, Jason, one of those is a very big famous name right about now, Cardinal Bernard Law. What's the latest on whether or not he is going to be at least giving a deposition in this case?

CARROLL: Well, that is -- well, Cardinal Law would be deposed in a different case actually with defrocked priest John Geoghan...

HARRIS: Oh, my mistake.

CARROLL: ... with defrocked priest John Geoghan. However, he is scheduled to be deposed with a civil suit regarding Father Paul Shanley, not the criminal case that we are dealing with here, but a civil suit regarding Paul Shanley on June 5. So we just want to make sure -- there are a lot of different cases going on here, and I know it is difficult to keep them all in order.

But the latest word that we have is that Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law is scheduled to be deposed tomorrow in a case involving defrocked priest John Geoghan. That is a civil case involving defrocked priest John Geoghan, although attorneys for the archdiocese always have the option to appeal that decision.

HARRIS: And that's exactly why you are out there covering this case, Jason, because you are better than I am, at least, at keeping all these things straight. Thank you very much, Jason. We'll get back to you in just a bit -- Jason Carroll here live in Boston this morning.

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