CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise
11:41 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2005
By MICHAEL FISHER / The Press-Enterprise
Lawyers said Wednesday that it will take them weeks to edit and release the depositions of a handful of witnesses who testified in some of the clergy sexual abuse lawsuits pending in Southern California, including some cases targeting the Inland diocese.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz rejected a request by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to seal the depositions. In making his tentative decision, the judge said the archdiocese failed to show how releasing the depositions would prejudice future jurors against the church.
Fromholz's ruling, expected to be finalized this week, allows another 20 witnesses over the age of 80 to be deposed. Five of the witnesses are tied to cases involving the San Bernardino or San Diego dioceses, lawyers said.
Attorneys and officials with the San Bernardino Diocese could not be reached for comment Wednesday.