Retired Bishop Thomas O'Brien, for 21 years the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Phoenix, has been found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and faces up to three years and nine months in prison when sentenced.
Dr O'Brien (68), sat stone-faced and still as eight jurors in Maricopa County Superior Court delivered the verdict convicting him in connection with a hit-and-run accident that killed Jim Reed (43), as he was jaywalking across a Phoenix street last June.
The guilty verdict capped six hours of deliberations and a five-week trial that stunned the Phoenix community and drew the nation's attention once again to a church already rocked by scandal.
Two weeks before his arrest, Dr O'Brien had cut a deal with county attorneys granting him immunity from prosecution for reassigning accused paedophile priests to other positions in the church without disclosing the allegations against them.
Dr O'Brien testified he never thought he had hit a person in the collision on the night of June 14th, the impact of which was so loud the cleric said he winced and raised his hand, but kept on driving.
He said he believed perhaps it was an animal or a rock that had crashed into his vehicle, shattering the passenger-side windshield.
Dr O'Brien, who retired as head of the 460,000-member Diocese shortly after the accident, remains free on bail and was ordered to return to court March 12th for a pre-sentencing hearing.