The Baltimore Sun provides an audio transcript of Bishop Cook’s appearance before the judge seeking leniency for her first arrest. The Sun also has more comments from friends and colleagues about her work before becoming bishop and before killing Thomas Palermo.
Standing before an Eastern Shore judge in 2010 after being caught driving drunk, the Rev. Heather Elizabeth Cook and her attorney pleaded for leniency.
Cook was undergoing three different forms of counseling, including Alcoholics Anonymous, her attorney said. And she had voluntarily had an ignition interlock device installed in her car.
“I am regarding this as a major wake-up call in my life, and I’m doing things now that I was not able to do without this motivation,” Cook told District Judge John E. Nunn III, according to an audio transcript obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public records request.
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Since the crash that killed Palermo, a 41-year-old father of two, Cook and those in her inner circle have declined interview requests. But others who know her were surprised to learn of the 58-year-old’s personal struggles, and said she was a stellar church leader who was well-regarded in the community.
Posted by Ann Fontaine