PHOENIX, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A Phoenix, Ariz., jury Tuesday found the former Catholic bishop of Phoenix guilty of fleeing the scene of a fatal traffic accident.
The jury spent fewer than two days deliberating before returning the verdict that could send Bishop Thomas O'Brien to prison for nearly four years. Sentencing was not immediately scheduled.
O'Brien was arrested last summer, 36 hours after carpenter Jim Reed was struck and killed while jaywalking across a Phoenix street.
Defense lawyers told the jurors the bishop was not aware he had struck Reed. They contended O'Brien decided to keep driving because he didn't see Reed and believed his broken windshield was caused by a collision with an animal or a rock on the road.
The Arizona Republic said O'Brien resigned as actual head of the Phoenix Diocese after his arrest, but he retains the title of bishop for life.
