DA Finds No Criminal Nature in Bishop Incident, The Post-Journal, August 21, 2007

DA Finds No Criminal Nature in Bishop Incident

The Post-Journal
August 21, 2007

http://post-journal.com/community/articles.asp?articleID=18787

Mayville — Bishop Edward Kmiec will not face charges after an alleged incident with a Fredonia man on Aug. 11.

On Monday, David Foley, Chautauqua County district attorney, said he has closed the investigation into any allegations surrounding an incident between William Parks of Fredonia and Bishop Edward Kmiec.

Foley said the investigation of the alleged Aug. 11 altercation between Parks, a founding member of Catholic Parishioners Against Church Suppression, and Bishop Kmiec at the Clarion Hotel in Dunkirk yielded no indications of criminal activity on the part of either man. Parks filed a report with the Dunkirk Police Department, but did not file charges.

"Each one of them sort of detailed their impressions of it, and Mr. Bailey's impression of the situation may have been slightly different than they were from the (other) statements, but the facts gleaned from all the statements and that's what I'm looking for were all consistent."

David Foley, Chautauqua County district attorney

Foley and an investigator reviewed the Dunkirk City Police incident report and five statements from witnesses, two who are employees of the hotel and three who had attended the banquet in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church that Kmiec attended. According to Foley, none of the three banquet attendees appeared to have direct relation to the Diocese of Buffalo.

Foley said he also spoke directly with John Bailey, the Pennsylvania man whom Parks supplied as a witness to the event. Bailey was attending a class reunion with Parks that was also being held at the hotel around the same time as the banquet. Although opinions may have differed between the witnesses, the district attorney said all of the accounts on the basic elements of what happened that night were the same.

"Each one of them sort of detailed their impressions of it, and Mr. Bailey's impression of the situation may have been slightly different than they were from the (other) statements, but the facts gleaned from all the statements and that's what I'm looking for were all consistent," Foley said.

Foley would normally not be personally involved in a case like this, he said, but chose to do so because of the level of those involved and the pressure that surrounded the situation. The district attorney's office received multiple accounts of information from outside sources.

"In no means am I calling into question Mr. Parks nor am I calling into question the bishop in this situation or indicating that I find for one as compared to the other," he said. "Given what I have received, it just does not rise to the level where anything should be charged."