Pennsylvania court upholds dismissal of Penn State ex-official’s charges

On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania appeals court said it would not reconsider its recent ruling of throwing out some of the most serious criminal charges against three former Penn State administrators over their handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case.

According to Salon, a Pennsylvania appeals court said that in their most recent decision, they won't budge on reconsidering throwing out some of the most serious criminal charges filed against the three former Penn State administrators. The Superior Court on Wednesday ruled an order denying the attorney general's office's petition for a reargument in the case of former university president, Graham Spanier, its vice president, Gary Schultz, and athletic director Tim Curley.

Nonetheless, the attorney general's office could seek an appeal to the state Supreme Court as reported by ESPN. They could push forward with the trial but that would only happen if they could reach the county court in Harrisburg. The three-judge panel threw out charges of perjury, obstruction and conspiracy to the three employees but there's a place left for charges with failure to report. These reports would include suspected child abuse,and endangering the welfare of children. Curley on the other hand, is set to get a perjury charge.

Meanwhile, Fox News wrote that the charges were first filed in 2011 and 2012 but it didn't go to trial yet. The site stated that the central issue has been the role played during grand jury proceedings by Penn State's then-general counsel, Cynthia Baldwin.

In the January ruling, Baldwin's testimony was in fact a violation of an attorney-client privilege since she didn't clearly explain that she was representing them as university employees and not protecting their interests. The decision was eventually overturned by a judge.

Curley, Schultz and Spanier already testified in 2011 to the grand jury regarding the complaints filed against Sandusky while they were serving as administrators of the school. Sandusky was convicted of 45 accounts  of child sexual abuse. 

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Penn State, Pennsylvania, dismissal, employers, administrators, tim curley, Graham Spanier, gary schultz, child abuse, molestation

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