Lawyers in Piroli Case Admonished : Courts: The judge says he regrets allowing too much ‘leeway,’ causing repeated delays in the trial of the accused priest.

One of Ventura County’s most drawn-out court matters--the case of a Catholic priest accused of stealing collection money--may be delayed even further, and the judge faulted himself Friday for giving attorneys too much leeway.

“This case has been in the system 14 months,” Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele said. “If I were to tell that to my colleagues, they would be shocked and appalled.”

Steele presides over the case of Father David Dean Piroli, charged with stealing $60,000 in collection money from churches in Simi Valley and Saticoy.

Piroli’s trial has already been postponed three times, and on Friday his lawyer, Richard J. Beada, asked Steele to postpone the Nov. 29 trial date. Beada said he had medical problems that would prevent him from handling a trial.

Steele denied the request, and Beada indicated he probably will have to drop out of the case. He said he had contacted two other attorneys about taking over the matter. Steele said a change of attorney would delay the trial another 60 days.

That prospect led the normally affable Steele to scold Beada, the two other attorneys in the case, and even himself. In addition to Beada, the case involves a deputy district attorney and an attorney for the two churches.

The case “stares at me like a clock on the wall,” he said, adding that he had made two mistakes:

First, he said, he has allowed attorneys from all three sides “an enormous amount of leeway” in requesting records from each other. Several disputes arose over the requests, and hearings were necessary to resolve them.

So far, there have been 22 pretrial court appearances in the Piroli case, officials said. In most felony cases, only about three court hearings are held before trial. Most felony cases are resolved within four months of the date charges are filed, officials said.

The judge said his second mistake was to allow counsel to have off-the-record meetings with him in his chambers to discuss legal matters in the case. Those conferences generally did nothing to move the case along, Steele said.

“I’m not going to do that anymore,” he said. “From now on, anything that happens in this case happens on the record, like it is supposed to.”

Steele told Beada that if he shows up Nov. 29 unprepared to start jury selection, he had better produce a doctor’s statement saying he could not handle the rigors of a trial.

“If I continue this case, there had better not be any more motions for the case to be continued short of somebody being in the hospital or dead,” Steele said.

When Beada tried to question Steele, the judge cut him off. Looking down at his calender, the judge said he had handled 39 cases earlier in the day and said they had moved along swiftly because the attorneys didn’t question his every move.

“In this case,” he said, staring at Beada, “every time I rule I get an argument.”

Asked outside court about Steele’s admonishment, Beada said the judge should have expected delays.

“Whenever you have three lawyers in a case, it’s the kiss of death,” he said.

Beada said Steele’s position may force him to give up the case.

“If the court thinks that ethically I should withdraw from this case . . . I will make that motion,” Beada said.

But Beada said he would rather continue because he knows the case better than a replacement attorney would.

“I’m frustrated,” Beada said. “I’d like to try this case.”

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But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary C. Peace noted that an affidavit signed by Beada’s doctor on Nov. 4 said Beada’s illness would last from 20 to 30 days.

“I acknowledge Mr. Beada has some medical problems,” Peace said. But, she said, his forceful performance in arguing for the motion to postpone the case suggests he is well enough to take the case to trial.

On another motion Friday, Steele denied Beada’s motion to lower Piroli’s $100,000 bail. The motion was made because defendants who are free on bail must put up an additional 10% of their bail every 12 months, Beada said. He said Piroli did not have the $10,000 and could be subject to arrest.

Peace said she didn’t know why the priest--who attended Friday’s court session--had not been arrested yet, since he is already two months late in posting the 10%.

She said she was not familiar with the rule because most cases are handled within a year and do not require the 10% additional bail.