HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Three former Penn State officials caught up in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal say charges against them should be dismissed.
Attorneys for Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schulz say the university's former general counsel, Cynthia Baldwin, violated attorney-client privilege when she testified before the grand jury, the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., reported Thursday.
In documents filed Wednesday in Dauphin County court, the attorneys want charges against the men to be dropped and their grand jury testimony suppressed.
The men are charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, child endangerment and failure to report abuse in connection with allegations they covered up accusations of abuse against Sandusky dating back more than a decade.
Prosecutors said the defense request was moot because the men have already had a preliminary hearings and been bound over for trial.
"The defendants appear to be of the view that, if they appear before a grand jury with conflicted or ineffective counsel, they have a 'get out of jail free card' to play at a later day, including after a preliminary hearing," the state Attorney General's office wrote in the filing.
Baldwin was present at the grand jury when each of the men testified, and each of them thought she was there to represent them. Baldwin has maintained she was there representing Penn State.
