Judge Opts Against Testimony In Penn State Case
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - A hearing which was originally expected to last as long as four days ended abruptly this morning when the trial judge presiding over the case of three former Penn State administrators, charged in connection with an alleged cover-up in the Jerry Sandusky case, decided to rely on Grand Jury transcripts rather than witness testimony.
Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier was the only of the three former administrators to appear at today's hearing in Harrisburg.
The defense team prepared for as many as four days of testimony, but after a lengthy meeting in the judge's office, there would be no testimony.
Instead, Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover wanted to look at the Grand Jury transcripts of what happened when Spanier and former PSU Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz testified.
The defense subpoenaed former Penn State General Counsel Cynthia Baldwin to testify at these hearings, but the judge quashed that subpoena. This means she does not have to testify - at least not yet.
"It's not a matter of her not wanting to testify," says Baldwin's attorney Charles DeMonaco. "It's a matter of whether there is a basis for her testimony in these proceedings. That's what the sole issue was before the court today. And the court granted our motion to quash. That should speak for itself."
But once the Grand Jury began to focus on Spanier, Curley and Schultz in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky abuse case, the defense thinks there should be no trial based on what they thought Baldwin's role was before the Grand Jury.
Elizabeth Ainsley, Spanier's attorney told reporters, "Each of these people, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz and Graham Spanier, went into the Grand Jury and identified Cynthia Baldwin as their attorney. There is a transcript out there of a colloquy at which Spanier was not present at which Cynthia Baldwin said she did not represent him. She only represented the university."
The judge is expected to have another hearing on all this and that could determine if or when the three former Penn State administrators go on trial.
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