PROVIDENCE A Superior Court judge yesterday ruled against a request by
the Diocese of Providence to seal from the public the sworn, pretrial
testimony of a retired police officer appointed by Bishop Louis E.
Gelineau to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
Judge Robert D. Krause said the diocese's request appeared to clash with
the goals stated last week by the U.S. Conference of Roman Catholic
Bishops, in Dallas, for less secrecy in the church's handling of
sexual-abuse allegations.
Krause wrote that the Providence diocese's request appears "antithetical
to the publicly announced position of a 'commitment to transparency and
openness' recently proclaimed by their colleagues . . ."
Retired Lt. Robert N. McCarthy's deposition ended quickly two weeks ago
when church lawyers refused to allow him to answer questions unless
plaintiffs' lawyers agreed to seal his testimony from the media.
McCarthy is scheduled to resume his deposition Tuesday.
Plaintiffs' lawyers want McCarthy -- a retired Massachusetts police
officer hired by the diocese in 1993 -- to provide details of his
investigations and accounts of his conversations with accused priests.
Krause noted that plaintiffs' lawyers had filed a motion opposing the
sealing of McCarthy's transcript, as had The Providence Journal.
Typically, a witness who gives sworn, pretrial testimony has 30 days to
review the transcript for possible mistakes. The testimony then becomes
part of the public file of a civil lawsuit.
The diocese argued, in a motion filed with Krause two weeks ago, that an
exception should be made. It referred to canon law, which says inquiries
about priest misconduct should be made "discreetly, lest anyone's good
name be endangered."
The church's lawyers also said that plaintiffs' lawyers had intended to
transform McCarthy's deposition into a "media event."
They referred to a June 10 front-page article in The Providence Journal.
The article, in discussing the plaintiffs' lawyers' request for
personnel records on the priests named in the 38 lawsuits against the
diocese, said McCarthy was scheduled to be deposed.
Diocesan lawyers, in their motion to seal McCarthy's deposition, said
McCarthy's transcript should initially be sealed, and that the court
should then hold a hearing during which lawyers could argue about what
should and should not be made public.
Krause, who is overseeing the litigation against the Providence Diocese,
wrote yesterday that "no compelling reasons exist" for such
"enshroudment" of information.
James T. Murphy, a lawyer for the Diocese of Providence, yesterday
declined to comment on Krause's ruling, saying he had not had a chance
to review the decision.
Timothy J. Conlon is one the plaintiffs' lawyers who represents the
parties in the lawsuits against the diocese. After talks of a settlement
collapsed three months ago, lawyers on both sides have begun preparing
for trials that could begin by fall. Conlon yesterday said he is
"thrilled" that Krause is allowing pretrial discovery to proceed
"without any special or unusual impediments to public access to
information."
In Rhode Island, nine clergy have been prosecuted in sexual-abuse cases,
and six have been convicted. The attorney general investigated eight
additional priests, but did not bring charges. In some cases, the
state's statute of limitations has prevented alleged victims from filing
criminal charges against priests.
McCarthy originally came before plaintiffs' lawyers for his deposition
on June 10. At that deposition, the church's lawyers refused to allow
McCarthy to answer most questions, unless Conlon, the plaintiffs'
lawyer, agreed to seal McCarthy's answers. Conlon refused.
In the Superior Court motion to seal McCarthy's deposition, the church's
lawyers wrote canon law, in part, protected McCarthy's investigations.
Lawyers wrote that the Providence diocese has "an interest in ensuring
that when their faithful (whether clergy or laity) come to them in
confidence, those confidences will be respected. They have an interest
in knowing that when they undertake an obligation of secrecy under the
law of their faith, they will be able to carry it through."
The lawyers wrote that McCarthy "to the extent he is carrying out a
bishop's obligations under Canon Law, shares these interests."
