By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BURLINGTON - Covington Diocese attorneys will not be held in contempt of court here for trying to get a Kentucky judge's phone records through an Ohio court.

The attorneys had tried to subpoena the phone records of now-retired Judge Jay Bamberger - alleging that the records might show that Bamberger was biased in a priest-abuse, class-action case.

Bamberger was the judge who ruled that the case could become a class-action lawsuit, the nation's first of its kind. He has since retired and been replaced by Judge John Potter of Louisville.

The phone records haven't been made public.

Whether the attorneys will be held in contempt in Ohio remains a question.

The contempt issue arose because the attorneys went to Ohio to ask for the subpoena after they were denied access to the records through a Kentucky court.

Bamberger had quashed the Kentucky subpoenas for phone records - saying it was inappropriate for the attorneys to demand a judge's phone records - and accused the attorneys of trying to circumvent his authority by asking an Ohio court to subpoena the records.

Bamberger always denied he was biased toward the diocese and characterized the church's attempts to have him removed from the case as "forum shopping."

Diocesan attorneys Mark Guilfoyle of Crestview Hills and Carrie Huff of Chicago said it was a misunderstanding. They claimed they asked an Ohio court for a subpoena only because that's where Cincinnati Bell is based. They also said they voluntarily withdrew the Ohio subpoena after they learned the similar one in Kentucky had been quashed.

Cincinnati class-action attorney Stan Chesley, who is representing alleged sex-abuse victims, had asked Potter to hold off on making any decisions about the contempt motion until a later date.

"We are very pleased that Judge Potter was willing to address the contempt issue up front and clear the air," Guilfoyle and Huff wrote in joint statement released after the order. "We are hopeful that, with this behind us, we can focus our energies on resolving victims' claims in a manner that is consistent with (Covington Bishop Roger Foys') pastoral goals."

---

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com