Former Penn State president Graham Spanier’s attorneys did not call on any witnesses and the defense rested its case Thursday morning in his trial on charges of child endangerment and conspiracy for how he handled reports of Jerry Sandusky showering with boys.
Spanier’s attorneys are confident lack of evidence speaks for itself — it also means jurors will soon come to a decision. But that will be Friday at the earliest. After six hours of deliberation, the jury was dismissed for the night shortly after 8 p.m. by Judge John Boccabella. Deliberations resume at 9 a.m. Friday.
“Frankly, there was no evidence of a crime by Graham Spanier,” attorney Sam Silver said in closing arguments as reported by The Morning Call. “Every single witness that took the stand said ‘no crime that I know of.”
Spanier faces two counts of endangering the welfare of children and a conspiracy charge. Each could result in a maximum seven-year prison sentence. Former athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, who were previously Spanier’s co-defendants, pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor child endangerment. Both testified for the prosecution this week and expressed regret that authorities were not alerted in 2001. Both also said Spanier was not told Mike McQueary’s report at the time involved Sandusky engaged in sexual abuse of a child, and Curley maintained he was never told of anything sexual.
Spanier’s defense has been that he was never told of Sandusky — the former assistant football coach and Second Mile charity founder convicted in 2012 of child sexual abuse — engaged in sexual activity with a child. He has said that what was described to him in 2001 was ‘horseplay.’
Silver argued that all three made judgement calls that were not criminal. “They did not engage in crimes. They did not enter in a conspiracy,” he said. “Not a single witness said that [the administrators] did not do anything… They took the matters seriously.”
Regarding the conspiracy charge, Silver argued too many people — 12 — knew of the situation at the time. “That’s a heck of a way to pull off criminal conspiracy,” he said.
Deputy attorney general Laura Ditka countered by pointing out the usage of “we” and “our” in emails, suggesting a group conspiracy was evident. She also noted Spanier’s background as a reason he was capable of handling the situation better.
“For God’s sake, he’s a family and child therapist,” she said. “They knew what to do.”
Ditka said that the plan agreed to by Spanier, Curley and Schultz after Mike McQueary’s 2001 report — which involved informing the director of Sandusky’s Second Mile charity, urging Sandusky to get counseling and barring him from bringing children to the locker rooms, but not alerting authorities — only led to more children being abused.
‘Their plan resulted in a sea of carnage,” she said.
Ditka said Curley and Schultz were not entirely truthful in their testimony and called all three ‘criminals’ and ‘co-conspirators,’ as reported by Philly.com.
