Bishop Gets Probation in Hit and Run
By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Fri Mar 26, 2004 at 11:23:10 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Posted on Fri Mar 26, 2004 at 11:23:10 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
The Prosecutor asked for six months. The max was three years, nine months. The Judge sentenced Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien to probation--and 1,000 hours of community service--for his fatal hit and run accident.
O'Brien, 68, may be the first Roman Catholic Bishop in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony. He was the head of the Phoenix Diocese.
Judge Stephen A. Gerst said the conviction alone was a significant punishment for a public figure such as O'Brien. "He will bear the quiet glances and whispers of others for the rest of his life," Gerst said.
| < Ashcroft Loses Another Death Case | Justice Dept. Loses Fight for Abortion Records > |