LOS ANGELES (CA)
Fresno Bee
The Associated Press
(Updated Wednesday, January 26, 2005, 3:00 AM)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles wants a state appeals court to reverse a lower court's decision ordering it to give prosecutors some personnel records of priests accused of sexual abuse.
Attorneys for the archdiocese on Tuesday asked the California Court of Appeal to resolve two judges' differing opinions.
Judge Thomas F. Nuss, a retired judge serving as a referee in the case, ordered the archdiocese to turn over certain counseling records to prosecutors in September 2004. But in February 2003, a Ventura County Superior Court judge agreed some documents contained in priests' personnel files should remain confidential.
"It is the position of the archdiocese that the confidentiality of the documents at issue are protected under the constitutions of the United States and California and other California laws," J. Michael Hennigan, lead counsel for the archdiocese, said in a statement Tuesday.
Posted by kshaw at January 26, 2005 05:47 AM