A Superior Court turned down Louis Freeh’s request that the stay in Graham Spanier’s lawsuit against him be lifted Monday, saying that it did not have jurisdiction to reverse the stay ruling of the Centre County judge who made it.

Arguments for Freeh’s appeal were heard in May in Philadelphia. The stay was issued by Centre County Judge Jonathan Grine, mandating that the Freeh v. Spanier lawsuit be put on hold until the criminal case against Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz was over. Grine did so because the allegations against Spanier in the Freeh Report and in the commonwealth’s criminal case against the trio are the so similar. Furthermore, Spanier’s ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment in depositions related to the case that would prevent information for the civil suit from being collected necessitated a stay, to Grine.

Spanier sued Freeh for defamation after the Freeh Report’s release. With no date being set for the Commonwealth’s criminal case against the trio of former administrators, it will be some time before this lawsuit sees any courtroom action.