New Orleans archbishop testifies under oath for first time in church bankruptcy case
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Version 1 of 2. Gregory Aymond gives confidential testimony as church closes in on $230m settlement with clergy abuse survivors As New Orleans’s Roman Catholic archdiocese closes in on a proposed settlement with clergy abuse survivors worth at least $230m, its outgoing archbishop, Gregory Aymond, testified under oath for the first time in the church’s bankruptcy case during a confidential court session on Friday. Aymond’s sworn testimony was given under a protective order, and those who attended the session were barred from discussing it. But Billy Gibbens, a high-profile criminal defense and civil lawyer, confirmed in an interview with WWL Louisiana that he was there representing the archbishop as his personal attorney. Gibbens declined to say how long he’d been representing Aymond. Bill Kearney, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said Gibbens had represented the archbishop personally for “at least the last few years”. He said the church does not pay for the services of Gibbens, whose clients in recent years have included the rapper BG during a case involving federal probation given to the entertainer after gun-related charges; Blake Bailey, whose Philip Roth biography was taken out of print by its original publisher after uncharged allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct; and former Louisiana sheriff Jack Strain, who was convicted of rape and incest. Kearney confirmed that Gibbens was with Aymond at archdiocesan offices in April 2024 when Louisiana state police executed a search warrant as part of a sex-trafficking investigation focused on the archdiocese. But Kearney said Gibbens’s representation of the archbishop was not associated with the state police investigation. Gibbens’ law partner, Kyle Schonekas, separately does legal work for the archdiocese, Kearney said. Court records show Schonekas is representing Aymond in an ongoing effort to quash a subpoena for the archbishop to testify in a separate sexual abuse lawsuit against a priest in Houma, Louisiana, which is south-west of New Orleans. The fees paid to Gibbens and Schonekas are not counted among those paid to attorneys and other professionals in the bankruptcy case. Court documents show the church’s costs for those bankruptcy attorneys and professionals should reach $55m by December, when the case is expected to be finalized. That amount is separate from the $230m involved in the bankruptcy settlement, which is awaiting approval. Clergy abuse claimants have until 29 October to vote on whether to accept the settlement. The archbishop’s deposition Friday comes five-and-a-half years after he was scheduled to testify in a clergy sexual abuse lawsuit in May 2020. That deposition was effectively blocked by the archdiocese filing for federal bankruptcy protection on 1 May 2020, which stopped 34 pending sexual abuse cases from moving forward in state courts. Pope Leo XIV in late September named Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, as Aymond’s eventual successor. The role assigned to Checchio by the pope positioned him to initially assist Aymond and then take over for him when he retires in the coming months. |