Kane tells judge no evidence of leaks in Sandusky case

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane testified Thursday that she had no evidence that the judge who oversaw the grand jury investigation of serial sex abuser Jerry Sandusky had leaked confidential information about the case.

Kane was summoned to court in Harrisburg and questioned for 30 minutes during an unusual proceeding that was closed to the public. She had been directed to produce evidence to support statements that a judge interpreted as suggesting that Judge Barry F. Feudale had improperly leaked information in the case.

John M. Cleland, the senior judge who questioned Kane under oath Thursday, later disclosed that the attorney general had told him she had no information - emails or other documents - to show that Feudale leaked.

Kane made the admission a week after she issued a statement assailing Feudale as allegedly releasing secret information.

In that statement, Kane said, "The seriousness of this reckless breach of sealed Supreme Court documents, orchestrated by the presiding judge of a state investigative grand jury, with attorneys and the very reporters who have covered some of the Sandusky, Computergate, and Bonusgate cases, cannot be overstated."

That prompted Cleland to order her to produce any evidence to demonstrate that Feudale improperly released confidential material in the Sandusky case.

In response, Kane sent him a statement Wednesday attesting that she had no such evidence. Cleland then ordered her to appear in court the next day to answer questions from him and Sandusky's appellate lawyers.

After appearing before Cleland on Thursday, Kane left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. She was escorted into and out of the building through an entrance that is not accessible to the public.

The proceeding was a tense and awkward moment for the Attorney General's Office, which built the case that led to Sandusky's 2012 conviction for sexually abusing 10 boys.

It followed Kane's release last week of emails between Feudale and two Inquirer reporters that she said showed the judge's indicating a willingness to disclose secret information about an unrelated case.

She pointed out that Feudale had forwarded some of the emails to Frank Fina, the lead prosecutor in the Sandusky case.

Kane noted that her agency was fighting post-conviction appeals by Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, as well as from defendants in other high-profile cases overseen by Feudale.

In 2013, Kane successfully petitioned the state Supreme Court to remove Feudale as grand jury judge shortly after she took office and began raising questions about his fitness in that role.

In the statement that Kane sent Cleland on Wednesday, she wrote that her statement last week about alleged leaks by Feudale narrowly referred to the judge's 2013 emails with the reporters about his ouster.

She said her statement "in no way concludes or implies" that Feudale released secret material during the Sandusky grand jury investigation.

Lawyers for Sandusky, who is seeking a new trial, had seized on Kane's comments to bolster their argument that the Attorney General's Office strategically arranged leaks during the investigation.

Sandusky lawyer Al Lindsay told reporters Thursday that he was not dropping claims that there were leaks during the investigation.

"We still think that's a significant part of our appeal," he said.

Cleland, however, rejected Lindsay's bid to pursue those claims before him.

Kane, in the statement she sent Cleland on Wednesday, made a point of saying that she was not representing the commonwealth.

"Due to a temporary license suspension," she wrote, "I am currently not licensed to practice law." She said she was responding to Cleland because he had made a direct request of her.

In September, the state Supreme Court suspended Kane's law license because she is awaiting trial on criminal charges. Kane is charged with perjury, conspiracy and other crimes for allegedly leaking confidential material to plant a newspaper story to embarrass Fina, a former state prosecutor and a critic of hers.

She has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to remain in office despite the pending criminal case, the temporary loss of her law license, and the recent formation of a special state Senate panel that is exploring her removal from office.

acouloumbis@phillynews.com

717-787-5934 @AngelasInk