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Voice mail to handle requests to aid ill, dying as part of sentence
Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
Call (602) 354-2122 for Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien.
The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and Maricopa Superior Court on Monday published the number for those seeking the bishop's help for their sick and dying relatives and friends.
The number was set up as part of O'Brien's compliance with the hit-and-run sentence he received Friday. Judge Stephen Gerst sentenced the former leader of the Phoenix Diocese to serve four years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service "comforting the severely injured and dying" in a variety of settings, without regard to religion.
The sentence was deemed lenient by many, including Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley. He said O'Brien "has never acknowledged his responsibility in this case."
Callers to the "official help line" will hear a message that O'Brien recorded Monday afternoon. The number is a diocese voice-mail box, not a personal line. As a retired bishop, O'Brien is entitled to use diocesan offices and secretarial assistance.
The message promises a response "as soon as we are able."
O'Brien asks for contact information for both the caller and the person in need as well as the individual's condition.
Mary Jo West, public information officer for the diocese, said O'Brien probably would issue a statement sometime this week, but the timing is uncertain. She also said she did not know when O'Brien would make his first visit. "First, phone calls come in, then we go through them. . . . After that, we will get the information to the bishop, and he will proceed," she said.
O'Brien resigned from the diocese in June after he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that killed pedestrian Jim L. Reed, 43.
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If it were you, me, or anyone else (of little public notoriety) we would have been given significant jail time!
Actually that's not true. The Judge researched the "ussual" sentence for such a case and spoke clearly that Bishop O'Brien, although not a normal citizen should still receive the normal sentence.
Actually that's not true. The Judge researched the "ussual" sentence for such a case and spoke clearly that Bishop O'Brien, although not a normal citizen should still receive the normal sentence.
Thanks to Rick Romely the good bishop had "no priors".
Thanks to Rick Romely the good bishop had "no priors".
Yeah but what about the previous cases this judge researched to come to his sentence? Think we are generally too lenient on hit and run cases if this was what the judge deemed fair after going back over the last 99 cases??
I was shocked he didn't get jail time. I would have guessed there would be little way anyone would escape even a few months minimum.
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Yeah but what about the previous cases this judge researched to come to his sentence? Think we are generally too lenient on hit and run cases if this was what the judge deemed fair after going back over the last 99 cases??
Wouldn't even matter if the Maricopa County DA hadn't let him walk, would it?
Actually that's not true. The Judge researched the "ussual" sentence for such a case and spoke clearly that Bishop O'Brien, although not a normal citizen should still receive the normal sentence.
That may be true, but I just know that the next time I run somebody over, leave the scene of the crime, and do everything humanly possible to cover it up, and then get convicted of those crimes, I will be made an example of by the judge!
That may be true, but I just know that the next time I run somebody over, leave the scene of the crime, and do everything humanly possible to cover it up, and then get convicted of those crimes, I will be made an example of by the judge!
But, on the other side of the coin, unless you hit someone really famous, it will barely merit a single mention in the local paper.
That may be true, but I just know that the next time I run somebody over, leave the scene of the crime, and do everything humanly possible to cover it up, and then get convicted of those crimes, I will be made an example of by the judge!
In as much as you stated the NEXT TIME, I sure hope so! and
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