Bishop's successor comments on criminal conviction

Published: 2004-02-18

PHOENIX (CNS) -- The criminal trial of Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, former head of the Phoenix Diocese, has been difficult for the diocese as well as the bishop, said his successor, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. "This has been a long and difficult process for everyone involved and I am grateful that it is over," he said at a Feb. 17 press conference held by the diocese after Bishop O'Brien's felony conviction for leaving the scene of a hit-and-run fatality. Bishop O'Brien faces a sentence ranging from probation to 45 months in prison for the leaving the scene of an accident in which Jim Reed, 43, was killed. Reed had been attempting to cross a dark road in midblock when the bishop's car struck him. Bishop O'Brien's family and friends, as well as Reed's family, were in the courtroom to hear the verdict. Some met with reporters afterward.

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