Gary Schultz Files to Have a Separate Trial

This winter may feature not one, but two trials involving former Penn State officials.

On Monday afternoon, the attorney for former vice-president Gary Schultz motioned to have his client’s trial severed from Tim Curley. A court spokeswoman that a similar motion is expected to be filed by Curley.

For a link to the docket where the motion was filed, click here.

If their motions were to be granted, Schultz and Curley would be tried separately.

According to a project done by the School of Law at the University of Montana, “co-defendants are preferred in the criminal justice system, that preference must give way if a single trial would unduly prejudice a co-defendant. For instance, when the evidence against one co-defendant is strong and the evidence against another co-defendant is weak, trying the two co-defendants together can be unfair because the jury could confuse the evidence and apply it equally to both defendants.  The one co-defendant would suffer prejudice through ‘guilt by association.’  Separate trials, one the other hand, could preserve each co-defendants’ opportunity for a fair trial.”

Currently, jury selection for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz is scheduled for January 7th at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. Penn State is still paying for the legal expenses of both Curley and Schultz.