The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Sandusky Loses Bid to Delay Trial

By Ben Present
Of the Legal Staff

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has denied an 11th-hour attempt from Jerry Sandusky’s defense to delay the trial of the former Penn State assistant coach, which is slated to begin next week.

Sandusky, facing 52 sex-related charges, had been granted a small continuance, slating his trial for a June 5 start, but Senior Judge John M. Cleland has since denied additional requests.

Friday, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court followed suit, denying the embattled coach’s emergency petition to certify the case for review without comment and, in turn, denying as moot his emergency motion to stay the case.

Attorneys and others involved in the impending trial have been barred from commenting on the case by a gag order issued by the court in April.

Unless the coach’s legal team attempts to exhaust review from the state Supreme Court, or he takes a plea deal, the decision appears to greenlight the coach’s trial. Lawyers are expected to open to the jury, at the earliest, on June 11.

Speculation that Sandusky might be engaged in plea negotiations quickly ended Wednesday after an in camera meeting between Sandusky’s defense, prosecutors and the judge turned out to be over another defense effort to delay the trial.

Cleland denied that request in a four-page order Wednesday, leading to the coach’s most recent attempt to delay his trial via an appellate court.

It was unclear what Sandusky told the Superior Court in support of his petition for review, as the panel’s order granted his request to do so under seal.

In Sandusky’s most recent motion for continuance filed with the trial court, he cited the following: the unavailability of a jury consultant, an unprepared defense expert, a paralegal who is having surgery, difficulty reviewing discovery material provided by attorneys for the state, and the inability to call two former Penn State administrators to the witness stand because they have taken their Fifth Amendment rights.

Sandusky Seeks to Delay Trial; McQueary Files Writ Against Penn State

By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff

Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joseph Amendola, filed a motion for continuance Tuesday seeking to delay the start of his client’s sex-abuse trial.

The motion claims Amendola and his client need more time to obtain and review discovery documents as well as to prepare their defense experts for trial.

According to the motion, those documents yet to be obtained include “phone records for accusers/alleged victims between September 2008 and February 2012” – which the defense has subpoenaed from Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile – as well as additional “discovery materials” from the state.

“Due to all the outstanding discovery issues and materials just made available to defendant and his defense team as well as all the materials which still have not been provided to the defendant and his defense team which they believe are necessary for the adequate preparation of the defendant’s defense in these cases, defendant’s counsel is very concerned he will be unable to effectively and adequately represent the defendant at trial if the defendant’s cases are not continued for all the reasons set forth herein above,” the motion said.

The motion came one day after former Penn State wide receivers coach Mike McQueary — who has alleged he witnessed Sandusky rape a boy in a Penn State locker room — filed a writ of summons in Centre County Common Pleas Court, indicating he intends to file a whistleblower complaint against Penn State.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Friday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is a prosecution expert in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial testifying that church law requires the reporting of sex abuse. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, the Rev. Thomas Doyle testified on behalf of prosecutors that, “You’re supposed to respect the civil laws of the country you’re in.”

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that a Philadelphia judge has decided to bring a lawsuit filed by Penn State against its insurance company to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. The insurer had filed its own lawsuit in the First Judicial District, while the university filed its own action in Centre County.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Gina Passarella writes that the Superior Court has ruled that a juvenile court can’t impose a jail term on someone over the age of 18 but under 21 for violating probation related to a crime committed when the defendant was a juvenile.

Also below the fold on Page 1, Ben Present writes about state Supreme Court oral arguments this week in which an attorney representing a man found guilty of murder said that his client was wrongly denied the right to testify in his own defense after the guilt phase of his trial had closed.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Dan McCormick writes that Pepper Hamilton has created a veterans affinity group.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In an Environmental Law column on Page 5, Bryan P. Franey writes a primer on the electric vehicle charging networks that will soon become much more common.

In a Commentary on Page 7, Frank H. Wu of Legal affiliate The Recorder writes about the perils and consequences of ranking law schools and law firms.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Judge Slaps Gag Order on Sandusky Prosecution

By Ben Present
Of the Legal Staff

In response to the “unprecedented publicity” garnered by the prosecution of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the judge presiding over the case has blocked those involved in the case from talking about it with the media.

The April 9 order bars Sandusky’s lawyers, attorneys from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, any spokesperson for those lawyers, and officers who investigated the embattled former coach from making statements or giving information to the press.

Pennsylvania Senior Judge John M. Cleland said in the order that nobody in its scope may make any statement – whether for the record, on “’background,’” or “’without attribution’” – relating to Sandusky’s guilt or innocence, any evidence about the facts of the case, the “reputation, character, credibility, or criminal record” of Sandusky or the same for any witness, possible witness or organization expected to testify at the trial.

Sandusky’s much-anticipated defense of 52 sex-abuse charges is slated to start trial in early June.

One of Sandusky’s attorneys, Joseph L. Amendola, has publicly maintained his client’s innocence since the case hit firestorm status in November, when the state first brought charges against the former coach. At Sandusky’s preliminary hearing in December, Amendola hinted at a financial incentive behind the alleged victim’s claims.

Any further remarks regarding the coach’s defense or the prosecution’s case, it seemed, could now only be aired through Centre County Common Pleas Court proceedings.

Philadelphia criminal defense attorney Fortunato N. Perri Jr. said he was surprised the gag order took this long.

“The court wants to control the message and make sure that the information being presented is being presented inside the courtroom,” Perri said. “From the beginning, we (criminal defense attorneys) are talking to our prospective jurors.”

But, for a defense that has not shied from the media, Perri acknowledged the gag order might not be a bad thing.

“He has probably done a lot more than the government has in trying to speak to people who may be on his jury panel,” he said, later adding: “Now Sandusky will not be given the platform to go out and make more mistakes.”

Sandusky Attorney Won’t Block Secret Tapes From Trial

By Ben Present
Of the Legal Staff

As a grand jury continues to investigate former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a Pennsylvania judge has said he would rule later on Sandusky’s request to have the sexual-abuse charges against him dropped.

According to several news reports of Sandusky’s brief pretrial hearing Thursday, Sandusky’s attorney asked that, if the court did reject his request to dismiss all charges against the coach, it would do so without prejudice so the defense could raise the issue again.

The Associated Press also reported Thursday that Sandusky’s defense attorney, Joseph L. Amendola, withdrew his request to prevent prosecutors from using alleged secretly recorded conversations between the coach and two of his accusers.

McKean County Common Pleas Court Senior Judge John M. Cleland is presiding over Sandusky’s case, which is slated for an early-June start and follows two separate grand jury reports alleging the embattled coach molested 10 boys over at least 15 years. Sandusky and his wife Dottie both attended Thursday’s proceedings at the Bellfonte, Pa., courthouse, where the coach’s trial is set to unfold.

Amendola, according to the AP, also told the court that attorneys for two Penn State administrators informed him they would be invoking their Fifth Amendment rights should they be called to testify at Sandusky’s trial.

Former Athletic Director Timothy Curley and former Vice President of Business and Finance Gary Schultz face charges of failure to report sex abuse and perjury.

Sandusky faces 52 charges of sexual abuse. Amendola has said the ex-coach plans to fight those charges.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Friday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story on a packed news day is former Philadelphia priest Edward Avery pleading guilty to the first-degree felony of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse for abusing a 10-year-old boy. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, Avery was immediately sentence to serve 30 to 60 months in prison by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina as part of his negotiated plea deal. Avery’s plea deal, which included a guilty plea to a third-degree felony of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of children, comes as the trial of his two co-defendants is set to begin on Monday.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer has filed a motion to dismiss all charges against his client. Attorney Joseph L. Amendola argued the 52 counts of sex abuse facing his client were not specific enough to sustain trial.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that a federal judge has allowed 45 additional plaintiffs to enter the “kids-for-cash” civil suit. U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo of the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled the claims weren’t barred by the statute of limitations because of the Supreme Court’s holding in American Pipe and Construction Co. v. Utah.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Gina Passarella writes that Foxwoods Development Co. has responded to a suit filed against it by Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel by saying the firm sued the wrong client. The firm sued Foxwoods in December, alleging the company didn’t pay about $940,000 in attorney fees, but Foxwoods said the firm should be looking to Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners to collect its unpaid bills.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In an Employment Law column on Page 5, Jeffrey Campolongo writes about criminal background checks and how to best handle them.

In a Franchise Law column on Page 7, Craig R. Tractenberg writes about ways for franchisors to avoid vicarious liability.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Wednesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today’s top story is the next chapter in the Jerry Sandusky case, as reporter Ben Present writes that state prosecutors may have to turn over psychological records of several individuals accusing the former Penn State assistant football coach of sexual abuse, according to criminal defense attorneys. Following an order Tuesday from the judge presiding over the case, the state has one week to provide a reason why the records of the alleged victims are privileged under state law. That privilege is waived for any such records the prosecution already has in its possession, according to lawyers.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that a Philadelphia jury has awarded $4.6 million in compensatory damages to a man who feel 40 feet while painting a utility pole. The award to plaintiff Vincent P. Nertavich Jr. was reduced by the jury’s finding that he was 49 percent negligent.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the FAA pre-empts a Pennsylvania ban on class action waivers in arbitration cases. A three-judge panel in Quilloin v. Tenet Healthsystem reversed a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruling, holding that a class action waiver does not render an arbitration agreement a nurse signed with the hospital unconscionable.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

As it is Wednesday, this week’s GC Mid-Atlantic column is on Page 5, as Hayes Hunt and Jonathan R. Cavalier write about the 2nd Circuit granting a stay of a challenge to the SEC’s settlement policy.

In a column on Page 7, Joel Feldman writes about showing compassion while also sticking to responsibility when working with bereaved clients.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Subpoena Issued to Penn State GC

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

Cynthia Baldwin, Penn State’s vice president and general counsel, has been subpoenaed to appear with a wide variety of documents before the federal grand jury investigating the university, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and Sandusky’s former charity for at-risk youth, The Second Mile.

Sandusky has been charged in state court with more than 50 counts of sex abuse and related charges.

The scandal led to the ouster of Graham Spanier as university president, as well as head football coach Joe Paterno, Penn State’s most revered figure. Paterno died last month.

Baldwin has been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and has been instructed to bring records dating from January 1998 to the present involving the names and addresses of all university board members and payments by those board members to the university or to third parties on behalf of the university.

The subpoena also requires records related to Sandusky, The Second Mile, allegations made to the university against Sandusky of “misconduct and inappropriate relationships with minors,” and records about Penn State’s reporting requirements relating to allegations of misconduct of people employed or otherwise associated with Penn State. The subpoena also requires the hard drives of Sandusky, former Penn State vice president of business and finance Gary Schultz, former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, and Spanier.

Both Schultz and Curley face charges in state court of failure to report sex abuse and perjury, stemming from statements they made to grand jurors last year.

The subpoena is dated from Feb. 2, but the school released a copy of the subpoena more recently. The subpoena was from U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith of the Middle District of Pennsylvania and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon Zubrod and Francis P. Sempa.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The Top Laterals supplement is also inside today's paper, so be sure to give it a read.

Today’s top story is the second in a series on revenue growth in a no-growth market. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, there are five basic options to get more revenue, but none of them is easy.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that Penn State University has sued its insurance company after the insurer took its own legal action to limit its coverage in a lawsuit against the university stemming from the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal. Penn State has also asked for a jury on the matter.

Also below the fold on Page 1, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the state Supreme Court entered an order Friday rejecting a King’s Bench petition made by the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia church official charged with endangering youths allegedly abused by priests. The order gives the green light to what is believed to be the first prosecution in the county of an official of the Catholic Church for harm done to youths because of alleged sexual abuse by priests.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the legacy of two Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judges who were sentenced to serve federal prison terms in the wake of a judicial scandal is tied to a decision last week in a case in which a Superior Court panel ruled against the return of property to Luzerne plaintiffs on grounds that it was not used as a bank as required under the property deed.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

On Page 5 is today’s Litigation column, as Abraham J. Gafni writes about pretrial discovery of documents from non-parties in arbitration.

In a White-Collar Law column on Page 7, Peter D. Hardy and Matthew T. Newcomer write that the government is continuing its hunt for offshore account holders.

As it is Tuesday, it’s also your chance to read this week’s Pennsylvania Law Weekly. The lead story for PLW comes from Ben Present, who writes that a Northumberland County judge has ruled that footage from an auto-accident plaintiff’s videotaped interview, left on the cutting room floor by his lawyer, is privileged. The ruling denied a tortfeasor’s discovery request for the unedited video.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes about two divergent rulings by Monroe County trial judges in separate cases involving allegations of fraudulent mortgage assignments.

On Page 3, Ben Present writes that, in a case of first impression, a Philadelphia judge has ruled that later discovery does not bar a medical malpractice claim under MCARE.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he discusses a lawyer’s need to report to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel upon being convicted of a crime; Peter J. Bietz’s commentary on trusts and estates, in which he writes that portability of the applicable exclusion isn’t as beneficial as one may think; a medical malpractice article detailing a Lackawanna County decision that ruled against a hospital’s dismissal from the case after an agreement limited the doctor’s exposure; and an Allegheny County alcohol tax ordinance withstanding appellate scrutiny.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Wednesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today’s top story is the potential new issues that could arise now that Gov. Tom Corbett has signed into law a measure that makes changes to Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act. As reporter Zack Needles writes, the changes include imposing “impact fees” on Marcellus Shale wells and limiting local governments’ ability to regulate drilling. Attorneys said not everyone will be satisfied by the changes, but many are relieved to have some further guidelines in place.

Below the fold on Page 1, Zack Needles writes that a judge has ruled against spousal privilege in criminal child-abuse cases. In an apparent case of first impression, a Franklin County trial judge has allowed into evidence text messages between a husband and wife because they detailed the condition and injuries of the husband’s allegedly abused 4-year-old child.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Penn State has paid nearly $3.2 million for outside lawyers, consultants and public relations advisers as of Dec. 31 to help it address the sex-abuse scandal surrounding former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Also on Page 3, Pepper Hamilton remains in a patent war on behalf of Wall Street-backed patent aggregator Digitude Innovations, despite Google’s bid to disqualify Pepper from an ITC case it brought for Digitude against nearly a dozen smartphone manufacturers, including HTC Corp. and Samsung.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In today’s Litigation column on Page 5, Lisa Blue and Robert B. Hirschhorn write about preparing a lawyer-witness for deposition and beyond. One key is to get the attorney-witness to speak in layman’s terms and be likeable.

As it is Wednesday, this week’s GC Mid-Atlantic column is on Page 7, as Hayes Hunt and Brian Kint write about the Stop Online Piracy Act and how to navigate the high seas of the internet age.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.