Jerry Sandusky was in Bellefonte last week for a court hearing regarding discovery requests made in his appeal of a conviction on 45 counts related to child sexual abuse.
The big news that came out of that hearing was judge John Cleland’s order that attorney general Kathleen Kane provide any and all evidence of her assertion that documents were leaked from the state investigative grand jury by judge Barry Feudale or attorneys within her office.
Sandusky’s discovery requests include documents related to any grand jury leaks, which his attorneys have argued would prove that the grand jury was biased and the charges should be dismissed.
The response from Kane was due today, and Cleland has stated that it wasn’t sufficient and ordered Kane to appear in court tomorrow to answer questions from Sandusky’s counsel and the court.
Kane informed the court that she has “no knowledge at this time of any e-mail that proves such leaks,” although her press release last week said the opposite of that and accused Feudale of purposely leaking documents. The release intimated that the grand jury that oversaw cases including Sandusky’s had been mixed up in Feudale’s impropriety.
“[It appears] that the reply may not directly address the terms of the order to disclose ‘any information of which she is aware to support her conclusion’ that Judge Feudale and/or attorneys of the Office of Attorney General ‘in any way orchestrated, facilitated, cooperated in, or arranged for disclosure of otherwise secret grand jury material in this case,’” Cleland wrote in an order filed Wednesday.
Kane will have to appear in court at 1 p.m. on Thursday to testify under oath — and in private — “and submit to questioning by defense counsel and the court regarding the statements contained in her response.”
