Retired Phoenix bishop convicted in fatal hit-and-run accident

Published: 2004-02-17

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, resigned head of the Phoenix Diocese, was found guilty Feb. 17 of charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. After deliberating just six-and-a-half hours over two days, the eight jurors told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gerst in a packed courtroom that they unanimously agreed the bishop was guilty. Conviction carries a sentence ranging from probation to as long as three years and nine months in prison. Bishop O'Brien, 68, had admitted driving the car that struck and killed 43-year-old Jim Reed on a dark Phoenix street June 14. Although witnesses said a second car also hit Reed, no other vehicle has ever been traced to the accident. On June 18, two days after police arrested him on the felony charge, Bishop O'Brien resigned as head of the diocese, a position he had held for 21 years. In statements to police and in testimony during his trial, Bishop O'Brien said he had no idea what had hit his windshield with a loud crack as he drove home from a confirmation ceremony. At his trial, the bishop said when he couldn't see any obvious cause for the damage, he decided to drive the five minutes to his home, rather than stop.

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