Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Bishop Charged
Aired June 17, 2003 - 09:05 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We go to Phoenix, Arizona now. That is where the head of the Roman Catholic diocese is accused of leaving the scene of a fatal car crash. Bishop Thomas O'Brien was arrested on the felony charge yesterday in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Saturday.
Frank Buckley is live in Phoenix with the latest chapter in trouble for this bishop.
Frank, good morning.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Bishop Thomas O'Brien out on $45,000 bond this morning. Last night, the scene as he was released, giving you a sense of the intense interest here in Phoenix on this story. A crush of media as the bishop, Thomas O'Brien, was released on bond. He had to agree to surrender his passport and not to leave the state without permission from the court as a part of his condition of being released.
In his first court appearance last night, he heard formally the nature of the charges he now faces, leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Court documents show that O'Brien told police he thought he hit a dog, or possibly a cat, or that someone threw a rock that hit his windshield.
But we'll show you the car, and you can see for yourself exactly what investigators found when they went to O'Brien's home on Monday. The car clearly showing that the windshield was shattered. According to court documents, Bishop O'Brien told police, as we said, that he thought he hit a dog or cat.
Instead, police say, he hit 43-year-old Jim Reid, who was crossing an intersection, midblock. He was not at a crosswalk when he was hit. Bishop O'Brien was booked into jail after his car was traced.
A witness apparently saw the accident, followed Bishop O'Brien's car, according to police, took down the license plate number and that's how the car was traced back to Bishop O'Brien.
Now, this all follows an acknowledgement by Bishop O'Brien just a couple of weeks ago that as he has been the bishop, priests have been working in the diocese, despite sexual abuse allegations. He -- they have continued to work with his knowledge, and in some cases, they were transferred to parishes without the supervisors being told that these priests had abuse allegations against them. In some cases, these priests continued to have access to children.
So all of this in the backdrop of the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church over the past year -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And as part of the scandal, this most recent chapter in Phoenix, didn't the bishop broker a deal with the county attorney that, Rick Romney (ph), that would keep him from going to prison on those charges?
BUCKLEY: That's right. He avoided prosecution on obstruction of justice charges, and he had to agree to a series of conditions in which he actually gave up some powers, had to appoint a child advocate, a special counsel, set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars for victims assistance and counseling.
So a number of things have taken place here. One of them was the bishop being able to avoid prosecution in the sex abuse scandal.
No one has accused the bishop, we should say, of sex abuse himself, but obstruction of justice that the prosecutor felt they had enough to get him on, but, in fact, they backed off, and allowed him to agree to these series of conditions -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Frank Buckley in downtown Phoenix. Frank, thank you.
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 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We go to Phoenix, Arizona now. That is where the head of the Roman Catholic diocese is accused of leaving the scene of a fatal car crash. Bishop Thomas O'Brien was arrested on the felony charge yesterday in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Saturday.
Frank Buckley is live in Phoenix with the latest chapter in trouble for this bishop.
Frank, good morning.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Bishop Thomas O'Brien out on $45,000 bond this morning. Last night, the scene as he was released, giving you a sense of the intense interest here in Phoenix on this story. A crush of media as the bishop, Thomas O'Brien, was released on bond. He had to agree to surrender his passport and not to leave the state without permission from the court as a part of his condition of being released.
In his first court appearance last night, he heard formally the nature of the charges he now faces, leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Court documents show that O'Brien told police he thought he hit a dog, or possibly a cat, or that someone threw a rock that hit his windshield.
But we'll show you the car, and you can see for yourself exactly what investigators found when they went to O'Brien's home on Monday. The car clearly showing that the windshield was shattered. According to court documents, Bishop O'Brien told police, as we said, that he thought he hit a dog or cat.
Instead, police say, he hit 43-year-old Jim Reid, who was crossing an intersection, midblock. He was not at a crosswalk when he was hit. Bishop O'Brien was booked into jail after his car was traced.
A witness apparently saw the accident, followed Bishop O'Brien's car, according to police, took down the license plate number and that's how the car was traced back to Bishop O'Brien.
Now, this all follows an acknowledgement by Bishop O'Brien just a couple of weeks ago that as he has been the bishop, priests have been working in the diocese, despite sexual abuse allegations. He -- they have continued to work with his knowledge, and in some cases, they were transferred to parishes without the supervisors being told that these priests had abuse allegations against them. In some cases, these priests continued to have access to children.
So all of this in the backdrop of the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church over the past year -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And as part of the scandal, this most recent chapter in Phoenix, didn't the bishop broker a deal with the county attorney that, Rick Romney (ph), that would keep him from going to prison on those charges?
BUCKLEY: That's right. He avoided prosecution on obstruction of justice charges, and he had to agree to a series of conditions in which he actually gave up some powers, had to appoint a child advocate, a special counsel, set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars for victims assistance and counseling.
So a number of things have taken place here. One of them was the bishop being able to avoid prosecution in the sex abuse scandal.
No one has accused the bishop, we should say, of sex abuse himself, but obstruction of justice that the prosecutor felt they had enough to get him on, but, in fact, they backed off, and allowed him to agree to these series of conditions -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Frank Buckley in downtown Phoenix. Frank, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
