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CNN Live Today
Priest Arrested in Fatal Hit and Run
Aired June 17, 2003 - 10:00 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, ANCHOR: First this hour on CNN, a Catholic bishop accused in a fatal hit and run case.
The head of the Roman Catholic diocese in Phoenix is charged with hitting a pedestrian with his car and then leaving the scene of an accident. This new charge comes just two weeks after O'Brien -- Bishop O'Brien -- narrowly avoided indictment in the church's sexual abuse scandal case.
Our national correspondent Frank Buckley is covering the story for us now. He checks in live from Phoenix, Arizona. Good morning, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Leon.
Bishop Thomas O'Brien is out after posting bond, but he had to agree to a series of conditions. Among them, that he would surrender his passport to the presiding court judge and also that he would agree not to leave Arizona without getting the permission of the court.
Last night, as the bishop was released from jail, there was a huge crush of news media, giving you a sense of how much interest, intense interest there is here locally in this story.
In his first court appearance last night, Bishop O'Brien heard formally the nature of the charges he now faces, leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
You can take a look at the car itself to see exactly what investigators found before they arrested O'Brien. The windshield of the car is clearly shattered. According to court documents, Bishop O'Brien told police he thought he hit a dog or a cat or that someone threw a rock at the car.
Instead, say police, the bishop's car hit 43-year-old Jim Reed. He was crossing a street mid-block, not at an intersection, according to police, when he was hit.
O'Brien, his car was traced when a witness actually took down the license plate and followed the car of Bishop O'Brien, turned that over to police, and then police traced that license plate back to Bishop O'Brien and later made the arrest.
And as you noted, Leon, this comes just a couple of weeks after Bishop O'Brien acknowledged that during his tenure as bishop in the diocese, that priests who'd been accused of sexual abuse continued to work with the bishop's knowledge and in some cases were transferred to parishes without the supervisors being told about the sex abuse allegations. And in some cases, these priests continued to have access to children.
So all of this happening in the back drop or in the context of this sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic church -- Leon.
HARRIS: Frank, what is the next step out there now in Phoenix?
BUCKLEY: Well, the next step here in this case is a preliminary hearing set for June 25. As we were noting, the bishop has avoided prosecution on obstruction of justice charges in the sex abuse scandal. Now, no one has accused him of sex abuse. But in terms of obstruction of justice he was able to avoid prosecution by signing this agreement with the county attorney.
In this case, however, it appears as though, at least for the moment, authorities are going to be moving forward with the prosecution that could result in more than three years in jail if he gets -- is convicted and is sentenced to the full sentence.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Frank. Frank Buckley, reporting live for us in Phoenix, Arizona.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 17, 2003 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, ANCHOR: First this hour on CNN, a Catholic bishop accused in a fatal hit and run case.
The head of the Roman Catholic diocese in Phoenix is charged with hitting a pedestrian with his car and then leaving the scene of an accident. This new charge comes just two weeks after O'Brien -- Bishop O'Brien -- narrowly avoided indictment in the church's sexual abuse scandal case.
Our national correspondent Frank Buckley is covering the story for us now. He checks in live from Phoenix, Arizona. Good morning, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Leon.
Bishop Thomas O'Brien is out after posting bond, but he had to agree to a series of conditions. Among them, that he would surrender his passport to the presiding court judge and also that he would agree not to leave Arizona without getting the permission of the court.
Last night, as the bishop was released from jail, there was a huge crush of news media, giving you a sense of how much interest, intense interest there is here locally in this story.
In his first court appearance last night, Bishop O'Brien heard formally the nature of the charges he now faces, leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
You can take a look at the car itself to see exactly what investigators found before they arrested O'Brien. The windshield of the car is clearly shattered. According to court documents, Bishop O'Brien told police he thought he hit a dog or a cat or that someone threw a rock at the car.
Instead, say police, the bishop's car hit 43-year-old Jim Reed. He was crossing a street mid-block, not at an intersection, according to police, when he was hit.
O'Brien, his car was traced when a witness actually took down the license plate and followed the car of Bishop O'Brien, turned that over to police, and then police traced that license plate back to Bishop O'Brien and later made the arrest.
And as you noted, Leon, this comes just a couple of weeks after Bishop O'Brien acknowledged that during his tenure as bishop in the diocese, that priests who'd been accused of sexual abuse continued to work with the bishop's knowledge and in some cases were transferred to parishes without the supervisors being told about the sex abuse allegations. And in some cases, these priests continued to have access to children.
So all of this happening in the back drop or in the context of this sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic church -- Leon.
HARRIS: Frank, what is the next step out there now in Phoenix?
BUCKLEY: Well, the next step here in this case is a preliminary hearing set for June 25. As we were noting, the bishop has avoided prosecution on obstruction of justice charges in the sex abuse scandal. Now, no one has accused him of sex abuse. But in terms of obstruction of justice he was able to avoid prosecution by signing this agreement with the county attorney.
In this case, however, it appears as though, at least for the moment, authorities are going to be moving forward with the prosecution that could result in more than three years in jail if he gets -- is convicted and is sentenced to the full sentence.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Frank. Frank Buckley, reporting live for us in Phoenix, Arizona.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
