Joe Paterno's estate is ordered to share files from rebuttal of Freeh Report with NCAA
The Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com
on March 29, 2016 at 7:06 PM
BELLEFONTE - Joe Paterno's estate must give the NCAA access to source materials that went into its critique of former FBI Director Louis Freeh's report on Penn State's role in and responsibility for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Judge John Leete found that, just as Penn State did with the publication of Freeh's report, the estate waived attorney / client privilege through its very public rebuttal to Freeh's findings.
The order also exposes former Gov. Dick Thornburgh and the other Paterno experts to potential depositions by the NCAA.
The latest decision is part of a protracted fight over whether the Penn State-commissioned Freeh Report on the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal improperly defamed the late and legendary Penn State football coach's reputation, and that of his son and former assistant, Jay Paterno, in a rush to judgment.
Sandusky, a longtime assistant coach in the Penn State program, was convicted in June 2012 of sexually abusing young boys that he met through his Second Mile youth charity. Freeh concluded Paterno and top Penn State administrators did not aggressively respond to allegations about Sandusky that they were made aware of in 1998 and 2001, perhaps in the interest of protecting Penn State's beloved football program.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly would later charge former Penn State President Graham Spanier and two of his top aides on cover-up charges pertaining to the Sandusky case. That case is still pending.
Leete previously granted the Paternos access to Freeh's source material.
Freeh's findings were at the heart of the NCAA's decision to levy unprecedented punishments on the Penn State football program in 2012, Leete noted, and the plaintiffs had a right to see how they were developed.
On Tuesday, Leete said turnabout is fair play.
Noting the Paternos sold their rebuttal in a far-flung, 2013 media campaign as "a transparent investigation conducted by independent experts," they can't now "place a veil of privilege over any review material they did not choose to disclose."
Tuesday's order came down at the end of the business day, and attorneys from both sides were not able to be reached for comment.
It is not clear exactly what the order will produce for the NCAA.
Everett "Kip" Johnson, an attorney for the association, suggested in court a grant of discovery could turn up items like notes of interviews with the late Penn State coach regarding Sandusky before his January 2012 death.
Johnson stressed then he doesn't know specifically that such notes exist, and it's important to note the Paternos' experts weren't retained until after the Freeh report was published in July 2012.
But in his overview of the estate's report, estate attorney Wick Sollers makes reference to "our interviews of Coach Paterno before his death."
Paterno attorneys argued the estate's experts' work should be privileged because its team was hired for the purpose of defending Joe Paterno's reputation both in public and, potentially, in court.
And unlike Freeh with Penn State, these experts were never authorized to independently share information with third parties, and everything they did was in collaboration with the family's legal team.
The Paterno's critique ultimately found Sandusky was a master manipulator who had expertly deceived not only Joe Paterno but everyone in the State College community and beyond for many years.
"The (Freeh) critique was a public relations effort," Johnson said in arguing against attorney/client privilege Friday, "and the fact that there were lawyers were involved in a public relations campaign means nothing at all."
The Paterno estate did win on a different pre-trial issue Tuesday... full story: http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/03/joe_paternos_estate_is_ordered.html
The Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com
on March 29, 2016 at 7:06 PM
BELLEFONTE - Joe Paterno's estate must give the NCAA access to source materials that went into its critique of former FBI Director Louis Freeh's report on Penn State's role in and responsibility for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Judge John Leete found that, just as Penn State did with the publication of Freeh's report, the estate waived attorney / client privilege through its very public rebuttal to Freeh's findings.
The order also exposes former Gov. Dick Thornburgh and the other Paterno experts to potential depositions by the NCAA.
The latest decision is part of a protracted fight over whether the Penn State-commissioned Freeh Report on the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal improperly defamed the late and legendary Penn State football coach's reputation, and that of his son and former assistant, Jay Paterno, in a rush to judgment.
Sandusky, a longtime assistant coach in the Penn State program, was convicted in June 2012 of sexually abusing young boys that he met through his Second Mile youth charity. Freeh concluded Paterno and top Penn State administrators did not aggressively respond to allegations about Sandusky that they were made aware of in 1998 and 2001, perhaps in the interest of protecting Penn State's beloved football program.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly would later charge former Penn State President Graham Spanier and two of his top aides on cover-up charges pertaining to the Sandusky case. That case is still pending.
Leete previously granted the Paternos access to Freeh's source material.
Freeh's findings were at the heart of the NCAA's decision to levy unprecedented punishments on the Penn State football program in 2012, Leete noted, and the plaintiffs had a right to see how they were developed.
On Tuesday, Leete said turnabout is fair play.
Noting the Paternos sold their rebuttal in a far-flung, 2013 media campaign as "a transparent investigation conducted by independent experts," they can't now "place a veil of privilege over any review material they did not choose to disclose."
Tuesday's order came down at the end of the business day, and attorneys from both sides were not able to be reached for comment.
It is not clear exactly what the order will produce for the NCAA.
Everett "Kip" Johnson, an attorney for the association, suggested in court a grant of discovery could turn up items like notes of interviews with the late Penn State coach regarding Sandusky before his January 2012 death.
Johnson stressed then he doesn't know specifically that such notes exist, and it's important to note the Paternos' experts weren't retained until after the Freeh report was published in July 2012.
But in his overview of the estate's report, estate attorney Wick Sollers makes reference to "our interviews of Coach Paterno before his death."
Paterno attorneys argued the estate's experts' work should be privileged because its team was hired for the purpose of defending Joe Paterno's reputation both in public and, potentially, in court.
And unlike Freeh with Penn State, these experts were never authorized to independently share information with third parties, and everything they did was in collaboration with the family's legal team.
The Paterno's critique ultimately found Sandusky was a master manipulator who had expertly deceived not only Joe Paterno but everyone in the State College community and beyond for many years.
"The (Freeh) critique was a public relations effort," Johnson said in arguing against attorney/client privilege Friday, "and the fact that there were lawyers were involved in a public relations campaign means nothing at all."
The Paterno estate did win on a different pre-trial issue Tuesday... full story: http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/03/joe_paternos_estate_is_ordered.html
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