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Pa. attorney general says Sandusky file contradicts testimony of Penn State's Schultz
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A file maintained by Gary Schultz documenting incidents related to Jerry Sandusky contradicted the former Penn State University senior vice president's grand jury testimony, according to a Pennsylvania attorney general's office court filing Monday.
The attorney general's office said the new documents add to a mounting body of evidence that Mr. Schultz lied under oath.
Mr. Schultz, 62, and Timothy M. Curley, 58, now on leave from his position of athletic director, are both facing trial on charges of perjury and failing to report. Prosecutors said the two failed to tell local authorities after a graduate assistant reported witnessing Mr. Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a locker room shower in 2001 and then lied about it to the grand jury investigating Mr. Sandusky.
Monday's brief came in response to a motion filed by Mr. Schultz's attorney, asking for the court to dismiss the perjury charge. In the motion, filed May 4, Mr. Schultz's attorney Thomas Farrell argued that prosecutors had not provided them with adequate information about the statements they alleged were false, violating "the requirement that ... the defendant be given fair notice of the charge he must answer."
In an aggressive retort, State Attorney General Linda Kelly was dismissive of Mr. Schultz's argument, calling them "spurious."
"Schultz now complains ... despite having received the information that he demanded, the Commonwealth has alleged too many lies and he cannot defend against the allegations," the AG's office said in the brief.
According to the brief, evidence had been unearthed demonstrating that Mr. Schultz had made false statements to the grand jury.
"As an example, the Grand Jury long ago subpoenaed any evidence possessed by PSU relating to Sandusky, his employment with PSU, and any investigation of his criminal conduct. Only recently was the Commonwealth provided with a file containing documents relating to incidents involving Sandusky. This file was created, maintained, and possessed by Schultz," it said.
"Documents in that file are inconsistent with statements by Schultz and his codefendant, Curley, to the Grand Jury."
Further, the brief describes an email exchange that also contradicts Mr. Schultz's statements to the grand jury.
"Also, the Commonwealth has come into posession of computer data (again, subpoenaed long ago but not received from PSU until after the charges had been filed in this case) in the form of emails between Schultz, Curley and others that contradict their testimony before the Grand Jury," read the brief.
Penn State University said in a statement posted to its website today that it had "responded to several subpoenas and gathered documents from many sources across the institution.
"As soon as any relevant documents were discovered, the University immediately provided them to the office of the Attorney General ... Out of respect for the ongoing legal process, the University cannot discuss specific information as it pertains to these issues."
Monday, former FBI Chief Louis Freeh, whose law firm was hired by a university task force to conduct an independent investigation, issued a statement saying he had recently turned over copies of emails exchanged by Mr. Schultz, Mr. Curley and former President Graham Spanier in which they discuss whether to tell local authorities about the shower incident. They decided not to, though it's unclear if Mr. Spanier knew of the full extent of what Mike McQueary, the then-graduate assistant who reported the assault, witnessed.
Mr. Farrell could not be reached for immediate comment.
First Published June 12, 2012 3:42 pm
