A person attempts to clear away debris from a mudslide as a powerful long-duration atmospheric river storm, the second in less than a week, continues to impact Southern California on Feb. 5, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Mario Ta… […]
Fr. Brian Nunes (left), Fr. Matthew Elshoff, Fr. Slawomir Szkredka, and Monsignor Albert Bahhuth (right) have been named auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. / Angelus News/Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Vatican City, Jul 18, 2023 /… […]
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles blesses the newly renovated Mission San Gabriel at a June 27, 2023, ceremony. / Photo courtesy of Mission San Gabriel
Denver, Colo., Jul 3, 2023 / 15:40 pm (CNA).
Mission San Gabriel has reopened to the publ… […]
Archbishop Jose Gomez told attendees at the 12:10 Mass on Thursday to conform themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. / olacathedral/YouTube 6/16/2023
Boston, Mass., Jun 16, 2023 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez celebrated a… […]
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. / Credit: Kit Leong/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2023 / 16:28 pm (CNA).
Amid increased boycott calls from prominent Catholics — as well as criticism from MLB pitcher Trevor Williams — for their … […]
A memorial Mass for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California, on March 1, 2023. / Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights
Boston, Mass., Mar 24, 2023 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
Carlos Medina, the man charged with murdering Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell in February, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in court Wednesday.
News of O’Connell’s Feb. 18 murder shocked the nation after it was reported that he died after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at his Hacienda Heights home. The local and wider Catholic community mourned O’Connell, who was remembered as a man of peace dedicated to serving the poor and immigrants.
Medina, 61, is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, and it remains unclear what the motive for the murder might have been. He is being held on more than $2 million bail and will have his next court hearing May 17.
Before his not guilty plea, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a Feb. 22 press conference that Medina admitted to the murder.
“He admitted that he had done the killing and we believe we recovered the weapon that they were using, and we have other evidence from the bed, certain things that indicate that they were in the place where the killing occurred,” Gascón said in Spanish, translated here by CNA.
Following the revelation of the alleged admission, a current and former colleague of Gascón criticized him for breaking the L.A. District Attorney’s Office’s own policy of forbidding the disclosure of a defendant’s admission in an open criminal case.
John Lewin, a former deputy district attorney for Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital that the statement could affect the outcome of the trial.
“It cannot be more simply stated, George Gascón is a DA who either doesn’t know the basic ethical rules that govern the agency he leads or doesn’t care to follow them,” he said.
“What if a court decides that the confession will not be admitted to trial? You can’t put that genie back into the bottle,” he added.
John McKinney, a current LA deputy district attorney, told Fox News Digital that the disclosure was contrary to police department rules.
“By disclosing a defendant’s confession in an open criminal case, George Gascón has not only committed a blatant violation of LADA policy but has also potentially violated the due process rights of the accused.”
Obtained by CNA, the District Attorney’s Legal Policy Manual states that “at the time of arrest, the issuance of an arrest warrant, the filing of a complaint, or the public revelation of an indictment,” information about a confession, admission, or statement given by the accused shall not be released.
Marc Debbaudt, a former career deputy district attorney for Los Angeles, told CNA Feb. 27 that he didn’t think Gascón’s announcement of the admission could cause the case to be thrown out but said that “it could result in motions to change jurisdiction.”
“It’s just embarrassingly unprofessional,” he said.
Three days of memorial services were held for O’Connell, 69, in early March. O’Connell’s funeral was attended by thousands as Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez called him an intercessor for souls.
Speaking briefly at the conclusion of the funeral liturgy, Gomez said “Bishop Dave,” as O’Connell was affectionately known, would be sorely missed, but “we know that he’s in heaven.”
“From there he’s going to continue to intercede for us,” Gomez said, “as he has done his whole life.”
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St. Louis, Mo., Mar 23, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles will lead a six-mile eucharistic procession on Saturday through the city as part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a thr… […]
Students at Precious Blood School, located a few miles west of downtown Los Angeles. Precious Blood is one of three new inner-city “microschools” trying a fresh approach to Catholic education. / Photo by Victor Alemán/Angelus News
Los Angeles, … […]
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell / Credit: MajorChange/YouTube Jul 26, 2020
Boston, Mass., Feb 22, 2023 / 16:40 pm (CNA).
Carlos Medina, the suspect in the murder of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, was arraigned in state court Wednesday and formally charged with one count of murder and a special allegation that he personally used a firearm.
“This was a brutal act of violence against a person who dedicated his life to making our neighborhoods safer, healthier, and [who always served] with love and compassion,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a Wednesday press release.
“As Catholics around Los Angeles and the nation start the holy season of Lent, let us reflect on Bishop O’Connell’s life of service and dedication to those in greatest need of our care,” Gascón said. “Charging Mr. Medina will never repair the tremendous harm that was caused by this callous act, but it does take us one step closer to accountability.”
News of O’Connell’s death shocked the nation and rocked the local and international Catholic community.
O’Connell was found dead with “at least” one gunshot wound to his upper body on Feb. 18 in his bedroom at his Hacienda Heights home, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said in a Monday press conference.
After an around-the-clock manhunt for the killer, sheriff’s deputies were tipped about a person of interest in the city of Torrance, which is about a 45-minute drive southwest from Hacienda Heights, where O’Connell was found dead.
Detectives had identified the person of interest as Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, on Sunday evening after the tipster told them that Medina was exhibiting “strange” and “irrational” behavior and had “made comments about the bishop owing him money.”
Police had also discovered video evidence of a “dark-colored, compact SUV” that had pulled into the bishop’s driveway, stayed for a short time, and then left, the sheriff said.
Medina drove a similar type of vehicle, Luna said.
On Monday morning at about 2 a.m. local time, sheriff’s deputies arrived at Medina’s home after being tipped off that he arrived at his residence.
With a warrant in hand for his arrest, sheriff’s deputies called for Medina, 61, to surrender, but he refused to come out of his residence.
The sheriff department’s Special Enforcement Bureau personnel arrived at the scene with an amended warrant to search Medina’s home and arrest him. Medina exited his home and surrendered to authorities at about 8:15 a.m. local time, “without further incident,” Luna said.
Two firearms “and other evidence” possibly incriminating Medina were found at his residence in Torrance during his arrest at approximately 8:15 a.m. Monday, the sheriff said.
Those firearms will be examined and tested in a crime lab to determine if they were used in the murder.
Offering remarks at Monday’s press conference, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez broke into tears and struggled to complete his brief comments on Bishop O’Connell.
“Out of his love for God, he served this city for more than 40 years,” Gomez said.
“Every day he worked to show compassion to the poor, to the homeless, to the immigrant, and to all those living on society’s margins. He was a good priest and a good bishop and a man of peace, and we are very sad to lose him,” Gomez said.
Bishop David G. O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, explains his call to the priesthood on EWTN’s “The Call,” which aired on Oct. 3, 2019. / EWTN
Boston, Mass., Feb 20, 2023 / 18:53 pm (CNA).
A suspect has been arrested and now publicly… […]
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