Ruling on lawyer's role in PSU case

HARRISBURG - A judge ruled Wednesday that the rights of three former Pennsylvania State University administrators were not violated by the actions of the school's top lawyer during grand jury matters before they were charged with covering up child sex-abuse complaints about Jerry Sandusky.

Dauphin County Court Judge Todd Hoover in Harrisburg ruled that the lawyer, Cynthia Baldwin, had been representing defendants Graham B. Spanier, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz as Penn State employees, so they were not denied their right to legal counsel.

Hoover said there was no conflict of interest among the defendants, no violations of attorney-client privilege, and no prosecutorial misconduct based on the claim that prosecutors interfered with the defendants' constitutional rights.

"Ms. Baldwin consistently and properly identified her role as counsel to the university in consultation with the defendants and in the grand jury proceedings," Hoover wrote. "Defendants chose to proceed with the university's counsel and therefore suffered no denial of the right to counsel."

The dispute about Baldwin's role has caused a lengthy delay in the prosecution of Spanier, the school's former president; Schultz, former vice president; and Curley, former athletic director. Schultz and Curley were first charged in late 2011, Spanier a year later.

Spanier lawyer Liz Ainslie said she disagreed with Hoover's ruling and planned to appeal. Schultz attorney Caroline Roberto said she was disappointed but was still reading the opinion, and Curley lawyer Tom Farrell declined to comment.

The three face charges related to their handling of complaints about Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach who was charged in 2011 and convicted the next year of multiple counts of child sexual abuse.