A year-old legal agreement requiring the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to release confidential personnel records of priests accused of sexual abuse has been thrown into limbo by the departure of a retired judge selected to vet the documents.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Edward A. Panelli recused himself in June to avoid the "appearance of impropriety" because he is chairman of a board that reviews clergy abuse charges in San Jose.
Panelli had been chosen by consensus in the Los Angeles case to decide which confidential documents should be opened to plaintiffs and the public. His rulings would have been final.
On Thursday, plaintiffs' attorneys asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias to appoint a replacement for Panelli, even as they accused Cardinal Roger Mahony and other archdiocese officials of manipulating the retired jurist's departure to delay the release of embarrassing and potentially incriminating information -- a charge church officials adamantly deny.
"If they try to be as recalcitrant as they have been in previous years, we'll have a huge fight," said plaintiffs' attorney Anthony DeMarco.
Archdiocese officials said that they were not involved in Panelli's decision and had been waiting for the plaintiffs to formally request a replacement jurist.
"We're open to a process that would allow plaintiffs to seek the documents," said Tod Tamberg, an archdiocese spokesman. "We're hopeful that there is a retired judge somewhere in our state of repute to both sides, and that a process could be agreed upon to move forward."
Panelli said he recused himself as soon as he was notified that he had been appointed to handle the Los Angeles case. He has been on the San Jose board about three years. He said he had not spoken with attorneys on either side before he made his decision.
"Even if there isn't any basis for a bias or prejudice, if there is an appearance of impropriety, you should not participate," he said.
Panelli said reports that he recused himself because of an honor he received from the Catholic Church were inaccurate. Although he and his wife did receive papal awards last year for service to the community, he did not cite the award as a reason for his recusal. In hindsight, Panelli said Thursday, it would have been appropriate to mention the award as well.
