F***I 发帖数: 4170 | 1 Anyone still defend Joe??/
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- If he were alive today, Joe Paterno -- the coach who
stood for so long for character and integrity both on and off the football
field -- could be looking at charges such as child endangerment, perjury and
conspiracy.
Legal experts said emails and other evidence in the Penn State investigative
report released Thursday suggest Paterno may have misled a grand jury when
asked when he first heard about Jerry Sandusky's misconduct, and show that
Paterno and other university officials put boys in danger with their failure
to report sexual-abuse allegations leveled against Sandusky more than a
decade ago.
More From ESPN.com
By lying, Joe Paterno betrayed himself, his legacy, his university and, most
of all, the children who were victims of Jerry Sandusky's serial pedophilia
, writes Gene Wojciechowski. Story
In the aftermath of the damaging Freeh report, the NCAA needs to come down -
- and come down hard -- on Penn State, writes Mark Schlabach. Story
The Freeh report makes it clear that Penn State no longer should be allowed
to have a football team, writes Howard Bryant. Story
If the NCAA is going to act on Penn State, it is time for it to sanction
those who were supposed to lead the university, writes Jay Bilas. Story
If the public accepts the findings of the Freeh report, the Penn State
leaders' legacies and reputations will be altered, writes Don Van Natta Jr.
Story
• Radio: Mike & Mike | Joe Schad
• Big Ten blog
Duquesne law professor Wes Oliver said the report by former FBI director
Louis Freeh reads like a prosecution case for a child endangerment charge
against Paterno, then-president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley
and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz. Oliver noted that a former top
official in the Philadelphia Archdiocese was convicted of that very charge
in June for allowing a suspected pedophile priest to be around children.
"If you look at what happened here, it's very clear that they were aware
that they had a pedophile on their campus," Oliver said.
Will Spade, a former Philadelphia prosecutor who worked on a grand jury
investigation of priests about a decade ago, agreed: "Spanier, Paterno,
Schultz and Curley are arguably responsible for endangering all of those
kids that were abused later."
So far, the only two figures arrested in the alleged cover-up are Curley and
Schultz. They were charged last fall with perjury and failure to report
suspected child abuse and are awaiting trial. They have denied any
wrongdoing.
Spanier, who was ousted as Penn State president because of the scandal, has
not been charged, but a grand jury continues to investigate. Paterno died in
January of lung cancer at age 85.
Paterno family spokesman Dan McGinn declined to comment on the criminal
legal issues on Friday.
At the very least, the Freeh report provides powerful ammunition to Sandusky
victims looking to sue the university or Paterno's estate.
The report said Paterno and the other university officials hushed up child
sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky in 2001 for fear of bad publicity.
Asked on Thursday whether the actions of the four men amounted to a crime
such as conspiracy or obstruction, Freeh said that would be for a grand jury
to decide. But the former FBI chief and federal judge said the evidence
shows "an active agreement to conceal."
Freeh described Paterno as "an integral part" of that agreement. According
to his report, Spanier, Schultz and Curley drew up a plan that called for
reporting Sandusky to the state Department of Public Welfare in 2001. But
Curley later said in an email that he changed his mind "after giving it more
thought and talking it over with Joe."
The report also called into question the truthfulness of Paterno's grand
jury testimony last year, when he was asked whether he knew of any abuse
allegations against Sandusky before the 2001 episode in which Sandusky was
spotted assaulting a boy in the locker room showers.
"I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that
nature, no," Paterno testified in a grand jury appearance that lasted only a
few minutes. He added that a rumor "may have been discussed in my presence,
something else about somebody. I don't know. I don't remember, and I could
not honestly say I heard a rumor."
The Report
Penn StateFormer FBI director Louis Freeh released a report Thursday
outlining the failings of Penn State related to convicted pedophile Jerry
Sandusky. Report
• Paterno family statement
• Paterno letter on scandal
• The Sandusky verdict
Watch the replay of the Freeh report news conference. Watch
But emails published in the Freeh report suggest Paterno closely followed a
1998 police investigation of Sandusky that ended without charges. In an
email captioned "Jerry," Curley asked Schultz: "Anything new in this
department? Coach is anxious to know where it stands."
Paterno, "were he alive, he would probably be scrutinized right now, as we
speak, by a grand jury," said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who represents a young
man suing Sandusky, Penn State and Sandusky's charity over claims of sexual
abuse. "When he did give testimony, now revealed to have been dubious at
best and false on its face, that is illegal perjury because it was given
under oath. So he is exposed."
Perjury, though, is rarely charged and is famously difficult to prove at
trial. A jury has to find corroborating evidence of the falsehood, and the
lie has to be intentional, not a simple misstatement. In Paterno's case,
prosecutors would have had to prove that Paterno had not simply forgotten
about the 1998 investigation, according to University of Pennsylvania law
professor Chris Sanchirico.
When the scandal broke wide open last November, Pennsylvania attorney
general Linda Kelly said Paterno was not an investigative target. On Friday,
Kelly spokesman Nils Frederiksen refused to discuss the investigation,
citing the confidentiality of grand jury proceedings.
SportsNation: Freeh report
SportsNation Ex-FBI director Louis Freeh's report on the Penn State scandal
blames former coach Joe Paterno and school leaders for failing to protect
children from sex abuse. Has your view of Paterno's legacy changed? Should
the NCAA punish Penn State? Vote!
Spanier's lawyers had no comment Friday but have denied he knowingly covered
up Sandusky's crimes.
On the civil side, Paterno's role in the scandal could expose his estate to
liability, said Altoona lawyer Richard Serbin, who has pursued lawsuits
against the Roman Catholic Church and other institutions in Pennsylvania for
the past 25 years. Paterno was considerably wealthy; he and his wife
donated millions to the university, and in April the school paid millions in
retirement benefits to his family and estate.
"When a responsible party passes away, that does not mean to say their
wrongful conduct is excused by death," said Serbin, who does not represent
any of Sandusky's victims. "Their estate becomes the representative of that
person, and assets of their estate ... remain exposed to any verdict or
judgment." | b**j 发帖数: 20742 | 2 太长了。in this country anyone can sue anyone, 不说明什么。再说这只是prosecu
tion的case, 还得听defense的argument吧。it's convenient to say now since JP c
an't defend himself any more isn't it?
High profile的indictment其实往往都是failure, 比如bill clinton, 还有最近的rog
er clemens
JP我觉得多少知道一点,程度多深,那就不知道谁知道了。我觉得,要是他活着被起诉
反而比现在没的defend自己好。怎么也听听his side of the story
前面谁说过,这个freeh报告不知道为什么,一个defense side当事人都没有采访。是
他们拒绝采访还是因为进入司法不能comment我就不知道了。
and
investigative
when
failure
【在 F***I 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : Anyone still defend Joe??/ : HARRISBURG, Pa. -- If he were alive today, Joe Paterno -- the coach who : stood for so long for character and integrity both on and off the football : field -- could be looking at charges such as child endangerment, perjury and : conspiracy. : Legal experts said emails and other evidence in the Penn State investigative : report released Thursday suggest Paterno may have misled a grand jury when : asked when he first heard about Jerry Sandusky's misconduct, and show that : Paterno and other university officials put boys in danger with their failure : to report sexual-abuse allegations leveled against Sandusky more than a
| F***I 发帖数: 4170 | 3 Like you said: JP我觉得多少知道一点,程度多深,那就不知道谁知道了。
That's the point. He put Football interest over those kids. That' enough. | b**j 发帖数: 20742 | 4 and he is paying the ultimate price now isn't he?
我觉得讨论的重点是psu football program, psu该不该陪葬,不是
这些人有没有责任。
【在 F***I 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : Like you said: JP我觉得多少知道一点,程度多深,那就不知道谁知道了。 : That's the point. He put Football interest over those kids. That' enough.
| F***I 发帖数: 4170 | 5 well,at least people know that he is not the person people used to think.
PSU definitely does not deserve 陪葬, although financially they will.
Football program I think deserve at least a few years of ban | N*********6 发帖数: 4372 | 6 拿我盖来讲
TP sb,小背心包庇,为什么要让Urban和这些球员受罚一年? NCAA
办事就是不讲人情,没办法
【在 b**j 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : and he is paying the ultimate price now isn't he? : 我觉得讨论的重点是psu football program, psu该不该陪葬,不是 : 这些人有没有责任。
|
|