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February 20, 2004/Shevat 28 5764, Vol. 56, No. 22
Juror reflects on bishop's trial
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
A member of the Jewish community served on the jury that found Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien guilty of leaving the scene of an accident.
Kay Lapid, synagogue ad-ministrator for Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler, said the jury that convicted O'Brien Feb. 17 determined their verdict primarily by the violent nature of the impact of the auto-pedestrian accident that killed Jim L. Reed last June 14.
O'Brien led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix for 21 years, until his resignation shortly following the incident.
O'Brien "knew that he heard the noise, he knew that he felt something, he knew that there was something that startled him, and he chose not to stop," Lapid said.
She explained that two aspects of law the jury considered dealt with the definition of the word "reasonable."
"We examined the definition of the word 'reasonable' in the law," she said. "What is a reasonable person? What would a reasonable person do?"
"If you know you hit somebody, you have the duty to stop. (The bishop) claimed he didn't know, so that releases him from that aspect of the law," she said.
The second aspect requires that if a reasonable person, knowing the nature of the accident, would have reasonably expected that there may have been a person (struck), then they have a duty to stop, she noted.
"We all felt that a reasonable person would not have excluded that from all of his realm of possibilities, which is what (O'Brien) did the whole time that he was testifying." He said he thought it was dog or a rock, "anything except for a human being. He just automatically excluded that as a possibility. We found that to be a very unreasonable attitude for a mature, experienced driver."
Lapid said neither her religion nor O'Brien's position as a religious leader played a role in her decision. "I judged him as a person, a citizen who needed to live by the rules of society just like anybody else."
The jury was made up of five women and three men, most in their mid-40s or 50s, according to The Arizona Republic; two jurors said they were Catholic but said it didn't play a part in their decision.
Lapid first reported for jury duty on Jan. 12 and served until the verdict was read on Feb. 17.
"I have so much gratitude for the volunteers that came in to help me out and help out the temple in my absence," she noted.
Lapid said she learned a number of things from serving on the jury, from automobile engineering and medical terminology to the judicial process of trying somebody on a criminal charge.
"I learned a lot about people, my fellow jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the list goes on," she said.
She said her thoughts were immersed in the case even outside the courthouse. "I would wake up in the middle of the night, before I was even conscious that I was awake, (and) I was already thinking about it."
The most difficult part was to not discuss the case with anyone, she said. "To have all these thoughts churning around and not being able to share (them) with anybody."
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