On Dec. 3, Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown will face what so few of his peers have encountered: a judge ready to throw the book at His Excellency. Brown is accused of sending Monsignor John Urell to Canada so he wouldn't finish a deposition for a sex-abuse lawsuit alleging church officials protected statutory rapist and former Mater Dei High School boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade (see “Bad Moves,” Sept. 27). With the court date, the bishop joins an ignoble field long dominated by Mafia bosses. And by sheer coincidence (or providence?), another Orange County luminary is also charged with Mob-like behavior: Sheriff Mike Carona.
Critics of Brown and Carona claim the two have operated like virtual dons during their reign. In the spirit of fairness, let's compare Brown and Carona to the ultimate capo di tutti capi, Michael Corleone:
CHARGES FACED
Brown: Contempt of court
Carona: Using his elected office to enrich himself
Corleone: Appearing in The Godfather III
SICILIAN?
Brown: No, but very, very Catholic
Carona: Yes
Corleone: Si
ALL-POWERFUL CONSIGLIERE
Brown: Peter Callahan (although Petey loses more cases than Lionel Hutz)
Carona: Mike Schroeder
Corleone: Tom Hagen
THEIR FREDO
Brown: Monsignor John Urell
Carona: George Jaramillo
Corleone: Duh—Fredo
ACCUSED OF WITNESS TAMPERING?
Brown: Yes (shipping off Urell to Canada)
Carona: Yes (asking former caporegime Don Haidl to lie before a federal grand jury)
Corleone: Yes (flying in Frank Pentageli's brother to shut the canary up)
SUBSCRIBES TO OMERTA?
Brown: Yes (Brown tried to seal his deposition for the Andrade case)
Carona: Yes (at least to unfriendly reporters)
Corleone: Yes
ETERNAL APOLOGIST
Brown: Far too many of county's 1.2 million Catholics
Carona: Tinstarblog.blogspot.com
Corleone: Francis Ford Coppola
ATTEMPTED COUPS BY UNDERLINGS
Brown: None
Carona: Bill Hunt (during the 2006 election)
Corleone: Sal Tessio
BETRAYERS AND THEIR PUNISHMENT
Brown: Anyone who opposes the Church burns in Hell—how you like those wafers?
Carona: Hunt was demoted to serve in Stanton—in many ways, a fate worse than Hell
Corleone: Tessio got killed by Clemenza
FINAL DESTINY
Brown: For God to decide
Carona: We'll find out summer 2008
Corleone: Appearing in The Godfather III
