During the four o'clock hour of the July 17, 2007, episode of the John & Ken radio show on KFI 640 AM, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley opined on recent statements made by Church-suing attorney John Manly on the pair’s show.
While media folks like John & Ken and contingency lawyers like Manly have screamed for criminal charges to be filed against Cardinal Mahony for failing to protect the public from abusive priests, Cooley sees no legal basis for any such action at all.
In discussing actions that his office had taken regarding abusive priests, Cooley opined about the "moral failure" of the archdiocese. When John or Ken (I can't tell them apart sometimes) said, "You’re not using the words 'criminal failure'," Cooley responded, "I won’t use that, because first of all, it’s libelous if it’s not true."
Cooley then added,
"We have not had one report from any source, including Mr. Manly, to suggest that any violation of that [mandatory reporting] statute, that California statute that makes that an affirmative duty."
Later in the program, the following exchange took place:
JOHN/KEN: I'm trying to figure out. What is [John] Manly talking about? Manly keeps coming on our show and says you have stuff – basically what he's saying is – you have stuff, you should be prosecuting already. But I'm not sure what the "stuff" is that he thinks you have.
D.A. STEVE COOLEY: I can’t get into Mr. Manly’s head. He’s made outrageous statements in the context of those civil proceedings for which he’s been sanctioned. He’s made outrageous statements about me. He’s made outrageous statements on your program. I’m not going to try to get into his head. However, I do extend to him an invitation to deliver to us in writing any theory he has of criminal liability on behalf of anyone involved with this matter and support it like a good lawyer. If he has any evidence, come forward. The invitation has been extended to him and has been extended to him today by [Deputy D.A.] Bill Hodgman in writing.
How did Mr. Manly respond to D.A. Bill Hodgman's letter?
