[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]

It's been a rough half-year for Peter Callahan of the Tustin law firm Callahan, McCune & Willis , mostly because of his big mouth. The head lawyer for the Catholic Diocese of Orange sex-abuse scandal unwittingly revealed in September the sealed amount Bishop Tod D. Brown gave to a statutory rapist, barked at a sex-abuse survivor during a press conference, and did enough other wackiness to earn the title of one of our Scariest People late last year.


Through it all, diocesan apologists said nothing. But with Callahan's latest actions, perhaps they'll finally ask Brown to dump the guy—unless Orange County's 1.3 million Catholics like getting ripped off.

On February 15, Callahan filed a motion of opposition in Monterey County Superior Court regarding the continued fight he's waging against the law firm of Manly and Stewart . The Newport Beach attorneys want Brown to reveal the names of priests he investigated for sexual molestation while serving in the Monterey diocese during the 1980s; Callahan doesn't want that to happen and is asking the presiding judge to lay sanctions on Manly and Stewart for continuing to "harass" Brown. The amount: $11,916, what Callahan says is the amount he's billing Brown for work on this case.

Think about that, county Catholics: rather than working pro bono for Church, Callahan is asking for a big chunk of your Sunday donation plate. And the self-professed proud Catholic isn't skimping on anything. His hourly billing rate? $195, which he applies on everything from actually working on the case to the "about .8 hours to retrieve my car at the Orange County airport and drive to my office through rush hour traffic." Round-trip airfare for Petey from John Wayne Airport to Monterey? $671. Hotel where he's staying? Hyatt Regency, for $222.05 a night. Petey is even billing you guys $45 for overnight parking at John Wayne—what, Petey, have no friends to drop you off and pick you up like the rest of us schlubs?

The worst part about Callahan's billing methods is that the lawyer has obviously never heard of Travelocity.com. We found roughly the same flight Callahan stated as costing $671 (leaves OC at 4:447 pm, arrives in Monterrey around 8pm; leaves Monterrey at 12:40 pm the following day, arrives in OC at 4:45 pm) for $262 (same depart/arrive from OC to Monterrey, but a 1:20 departure from Monterrey to a 4:14 arrival at John Wayne). More importantly, Petey: ever heard of Red Roof Inn?

E-mail: GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM