Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Charges Against Curley/Spanier/Schultz
When the most serious charges against former administrators Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz were dropped last month after testimony from former General Counsel Cynthia Baldwin was ruled inadmissible, Attorney General Kathleen Kane vowed to appeal the ruling. Today, the Superior Court ruled that it wouldn’t reconsider the decision to drop the charges, according to the Associated Press.
The ruling was filed under seal. Last month, the obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges were dropped against Curley, Schultz, and Spanier. The perjury charges were also dropped against Schultz and Spanier.
All three still face charges for failure to report suspected abuse and endangering the welfare of children, which are second and first degree misdemeanors. Curley still faces a perjury charge.
The controversy stems from the fact the charges the former administrators faced came from what they said during the Sandusky grand jury proceeding in 2011. All three thought they were being represented by Baldwin, but she later claimed she was there representing the university and not the individuals. During the private hearings Baldwin also testified which they argued violated attorney-client privilege.
“We hold that Ms. Baldwin was incompetent to testify as to Curley’s communications with her,” the panel wrote in last month’s ruling. “We find that, even assuming Ms. Baldwin represented Curley [and the other two administrators] in an agency capacity, his communications to her regarding being subpoenaed to testify before the criminal investigating grand jury were privileged.”
A trial date has yet to be set after 4 and a half years.
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