CLEVELAND (OH)
Beacon Journal
M.R. KROPKO
Associated Press
CLEVELAND - A lawyer on Tuesday asked a judge to restore Cleveland's Roman Catholic bishop as a defendant in a lawsuit as legal challenges and criticism against the bishop mount over his handling of a defamation case and sexual abuse cases.
Lawyer William Crosby argued that the decision to dismiss Bishop Anthony Pilla as a defendant in the defamation case was wrong because documents were withheld from Judge Janet Burnside of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Christopher Kodger and his parents, Suzan and Donald Kodger, have sued the diocese, accusing the diocese of falsely stating in 2002 that they supported the reassignment of the Rev. James Mulica. Christopher Kodger said the priest sexually abused him when he was a child.
Pilla on July 19 testified in a deposition that he twice reassigned Mulica. Pilla said the decision was made after Mulica had been treated for an alcohol problem at a treatment center for Catholic clergy.
In January, Burnside dismissed Pilla as a defendant on grounds that there was no evidence to support the family's claims against him. A motion filed Tuesday seeks to set aside that order and make Pilla a defendant again.