Hearing Held For 2 Former PSU Officials
HARRISBURG (KDKA) – Attorneys for former Penn State University officials Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were in court Thursday morning to argue that perjury charges against their clients should be dismissed.
However, little action was taken and more court hearings are likely.
Curley, who is battling cancer, and Schultz were not present in court, but their lawyers were.
A lot has happened since their preliminary hearing in December. Joe Paterno died, making his testimony hearsay, says the defense, and the Freeh Report came up with emails that implied both administrators knew something was going on as early as 1998.
Still, Schultz's lawyer Tom Farrell says this perjury case is weak.
"The Freeh Report has not evidentiary value," he said. "If there are underlying documents, interviews that the Commonwealth intends to produce, they have to authenticate it, they have to call the witnesses and we'll deal with it."
The defense said that the prosecution filed a new response to the claim that the charge of failure to report a sex crime was filed outside of the statute of limitations on Wednesday.
The date of Mike McQueary's report of what he allegedly saw in a Penn State shower changed and was amended during the Jerry Sandusky trial.
The prosecutors said every day that administrators failed to report it, keeps the crime fresh in the eyes of the law.
Curley's lawyer argued that it was not his reporting of the facts, rather his interpretation that is on trial.
"What I complain of is that the questions about ones conclusions, ones opinions, whether you thought it was sexual or not, whether you thought it was a crime or not are not the issues that should be subject to perjury because they call for a subjective opinion. So, I think that on the facts, Mr. Curley is absolutely consistent with what [McQueary] told him. It is the conclusion that [McQueary] drew versus the conclusion that Mr. Curley, Mr. Schultz and even Mr. Paterno drew," defense attorney Caroline Roberto said.
Also, Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano, a supporter of the late Joe Paterno's legacy, attended the hearing.
"I think the conclusions reached in the Freeh Report were based on evidence – facts not in evidence – I still believe that," he said. "I'm not going to get into that any further."
Stay With KDKA.com For More Details
More Local News
More News About This Case
More Reports From Harold Hayes
