SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- A charge of drunken driving against Robert McManus, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, was dismissed Tuesday in District Court.
McManus last month admitted refusing a chemical breath test for alcohol and was fined $935 in an appearance before the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal.
Courts spokesman Craig Berke said the drunk-driving charge was dropped at the behest of the prosecution. He said such actions are common in cases involving first offenders who have pleaded guilty at the tribunal level.
McManus, a former auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Providence, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of drunken driving after an accident May 4 when his car allegedly struck another on Boston Neck Road in Narragansett and he drove off.
He later apologized for his actions.
At the Traffic Tribunal, Judge William T. Noonan ordered the bishop's driver's license suspended for six months. McManus also was directed to perform 10 hours of community service, and was referred to alcohol counseling.