Prosecutors Seek Access to Ruling on Priests

Prosecutors asked Friday that an upcoming ruling be made public on the legal objections raised by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to giving prosecutors the personnel files of priests accused of molesting children.

Last week, retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Nuss blocked public access to his order, citing grand jury secrecy.

At issue are nearly 2,000 pages of church documents subpoenaed for review by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury a year ago.

Officials with Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s office said in a letter to Nuss that the documents they seek -- including admissions of child sexual abuse by priests to archdiocesan officials investigating complaints by parishioners -- will help in their criminal investigation of alleged sexual wrongdoing by priests in the Los Angeles area.

Lawyers for the archdiocese argued that the documents are protected by the 1st Amendment right of religious freedom and numerous privileges, including those covering communications between lawyers and their clients, psychotherapists and their patients, and penitents and their confessors.

All of the pending cases against Catholic priests were dismissed earlier this year, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California lawmakers could not retroactively extend the statute of limitations for decades-old crimes.

But Friday’s letter to Nuss indicates that criminal investigation into alleged crimes by priests is continuing, and more church documents will be subpoenaed.

The resolution of these claims, the letter states, “is critically important to the ongoing investigation of allegations of clergy sexual misconduct of children by various law enforcement agencies.”

The two-page letter, which was signed by William Hodgman, head deputy of the office’s sex crimes division, noted that Nuss held a public hearing on April 1 involving the key issues in the case.

“As a result, no grand jury proceedings were compromised and the integrity of the grand jury proceedings” remains intact, he wrote.

Hodgman said Nuss’ upcoming decision “concerns general applicability of the law,” and its specific application to individual privilege claims will be resolved later.

Donald F. Woods Jr., attorney for the archdiocese, criticized as “inappropriate” the release of the Hodgman letter to the media.

The archdiocese is paying Nuss $350 an hour as part of an agreement among the parties that was disclosed last month. To date, he has been paid at least $12,500.

Court spokesman Allan Parachini declined to comment. “Due to the tenets of grand jury secrecy, there is nothing more we can say about this matter at this time,” he said.

Attorney Kelli Sager, who represents The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily Journal, said, “We strongly support the district attorney’s position that these proceedings should be open to the public.”

If Nuss decides to hold a hearing on the request, Sager said, she will seek to argue in favor of media access.