Criminal Law News

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died of lung cancer last week.  San Diego criminal defense lawyers believe that his absence will affect legal proceedings against 2 college officials who have been charged in the sex abuse scandal at the college.

Paterno had been expected to testify at the trials of 2 Penn State officials, who have been charged in the child sex scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.  Sandusky faces multiple charges of child sexual abuse, involving allegations that he molested young boys who were part of a foundation he operated.

The 2 Penn State officials, Tim Curley, who was the former athletic director at Penn State and Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, had been charged with failure to report to authorities when they became aware of the sexual abuse of children by Jerry Sandusky.

In January, in a testimony before a grand jury, Paterno said that he informed both Curley and Schultz that a former graduate assistant Mike McQueary had told him that he witnessed an incident of sexual assault involving Jerry Sandusky and a young boy in a shower at a Penn State facility.  The incident allegedly occurred in 2002.  McQueary also testified that he had informed both Curley and Schultz about the sexual assault.

Schultz has since retired, while Curley is on administrative leave.  With Paterno’s death, the case against Curley and Schultz has lost some weight.  Now, much of the case will depend on the testimony by McQueary.  The grand jury testimony by Paterno is not likely to be admissible because he was not cross-examined at the time.  Lawyers for Curley and Shultz now no longer have an opportunity to question Paterno’s credibility because he’s deceased.