MARYLAND
Philly.com
JULIET LINDERMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
POSTED: Wednesday, February 4, 2015
BALTIMORE – The leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland said a bishop-elect charged in a drunken-driving death may also have been inebriated at a dinner months earlier, just days before her consecration as a bishop, according to a timeline released by the diocese.
The diocese leader relayed his concerns to the head of the national church, according to the timeline released Monday, which is the first indication church officials had concerns about alcohol misuse occurring after a 2010 drunken-driving conviction.
Bishop Heather Cook is facing manslaughter, drunken-driving and texting while driving charges after she fatally struck bicyclist Thomas Palermo in December in Baltimore while legally drunk. Palermo was a native of Riverton, N.J.
Prosecutors say Cook left the scene before returning and recording a breathalyzer reading of .22. The blood-alcohol content limit for driving in Maryland is .08.
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