Paterno and Penn State

[usmcvet]

I am glad McQueary took some action and went to the police. There are more questions than answers. Did he leave the naked rapist in the shower with the naked 10/11 year old victim? If so this still falls way short of doing the right thing.

As far as Paterno is concerned, he lost the right to resign. He would have also been an enormous distraction to the school he loves and the program he built. He sounds like a good man. Like all of us he has flaws. His are just under the microscope and in the pubic eye.

[Sensei]

McQueary is a coward and despite violating the law requiring him to report a felony sexual assault he witnessed, is not being charged with anything. He hasn't even lost his job yet!

This is probably one of the best posts that I've seen in GD Forum - thank you for the hard work.

As for McQueary, I'd love to clip his feathers, but I don't think that it will happen. From a criminal justice perspective, he is the cooperating witness for the State and his position as a graduate assistant did not subject him to the mandatory reporting statutes. His civil exposure is also minimal since the identity of Victim 2 is still unknown which means no one can claim any damages from his inaction. PSU has most of the civil liability and the deep pockets - get you checkbooks ready boys.

As for his job, it will be difficult to fire him due to state laws that protect whistleblowers. It gets a little murky on this point because his termination would be for not doing enough rather than retaliation for testifying. However, there a real chance that he could successfully sue PSU if they fired him, and there is probably a fear about what he could say regarding a pervasive cover-up. Finally, I'm sure that the DA has asked PSU to retain him through the trial so that Sandusky's defense cannot use his termination to attack his character.

[Sensei]

Where did it EVER say that McQueary did nothing??? This was just posted on ESPN:

A source familiar with the state investigation of child sexual assault allegations against Jerry Sandusky tells ESPN's Tom Rinaldi that Mike McQueary stopped Sandusky's alleged rape of a boy as young as 10 years old that McQueary witnessed at a shower at the Penn State practice facility in 2002.

"The source characterized McQueary, a key witness in the case, as "credible" and "consistent" in describing the events of the alleged attack to investigators."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...lt-source-says

Also, a text message from McQueary to a staff member was obtained by NBC:

"... you are the first person I have told this ... and I don't know you extremely well ... and I have been told bye officials to not say anything ...

I did stop it, not physically ... but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room ... I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police .... no one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds ... trust me.

Do with this what you want ... but I am getting hammered for handling this the right way ... or what I thought at the time was right ... I had to make tough impacting quick decisions.

This is off record ... again ... I have not and will not say anything to anyone else."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...mcqueary-email

Are you Paterno/McQueary/PSU haters interested in any other evidence, or is the brief overview made public in the Grand Jury PRESENTMENT....PRESENTMENT...enough for you to convict???

This email is an off the record communication to a friend that contradicts several elements of his grand jury testimony (the police were never notified and his conversation with the VP was a week after the rape). It is meaningless to this case. I'm going by what he said while under oath - not his pathetically vague defense of horrific inaction that came after the public outcry.

BTW, the proper response to witnessing any rape is to call 911 after incapacitating the attacker.

[OldState]

This email is an off the record communication to a friend that contradicts several elements of his grand jury testimony (the police were never notified and his conversation with the VP was a week after the rape). It is meaningless to this case. I'm going by what he said while under oath - not his pathetically vague defense of horrific inaction that came after the public outcry.

1) Did you read the 1st part???

"A source familiar with the state investigation of child sexual assault allegations against Jerry Sandusky tells ESPN's Tom Rinaldi that Mike McQueary stopped Sandusky's alleged rape of a boy as young as 10 years old that McQueary witnessed at a shower at the Penn State practice facility in 2002."

2) I highlighted the word Presentment several times. You do understand the difference with what you are reading and the full complete testimony (the other 99%) that was NOT released, correct?

Here you go; the definition of a legal presentment:

presentment n. a report to a court by a grand jury, made on its own initiative without a request or presentation of evidence by the local prosecutor, that a "public" crime (illegal act by public officials or affecting the public good) has been committed.


Hell, even Bob Costas said that there has been too much speculation with this case. Sometimes I feel like we still live in the 1600's.

[chadbag]

This email is an off the record communication to a friend that contradicts several elements of his grand jury testimony (the police were never notified and his conversation with the VP was a week after the rape). It is meaningless to this case. I'm going by what he said while under oath - not his pathetically vague defense of horrific inaction that came after the public outcry.

So, all of a sudden, this special moment that he will never forget, he can no longer remember? The one that was embedded in his memory indelibly?

[chadbag]

As for his job, it will be difficult to fire him due to state laws that protect whistleblowers. It gets a little murky on this point because his termination would be for not doing enough rather than retaliation for testifying. However, there a real chance that he could successfully sue PSU if they fired him, and there is probably a fear about what he could say regarding a pervasive cover-up. Finally, I'm sure that the DA has asked PSU to retain him through the trial so that Sandusky's defense cannot use his termination to attack his character.

So, McQueary is protected by whistleblower laws, while Paterno isn't, for doing the exact same thing? (reporting the incident to his superior)? Why the double standard?

Exactly why is this a whistleblower case?

[OldState]

I am glad McQueary took some action and went to the police. There are more questions than answers. Did he leave the naked rapist in the shower with the naked 10/11 year old victim? If so this still falls way short of doing the right thing.

Again, here we have total speculation with the presumption of guilt.

This type of thinking is very dangerous stuff. Ever read about the Salem Witch Trials?

[Sensei]

So, McQueary is protected by whistleblower laws, while Paterno isn't, for doing the exact same thing? (reporting the incident to his superior)? Why the double standard?

Exactly why is this a whistleblower case?

It is not a whistleblower case unless PSU trys to fire McQueary. His status as a whistleblower comes from being a cooperating witness for the State against employees of PSU (VP and athletic director) who committed crimes (failure to report and perjury) while acting in their capacity as university officials / state employees.

Paterno is not a cooperating witness for the State or whistleblower because he was not present in the meeting between McQueary and the PSU officials where Sandusky's rape of Victim #2 was discussed. In other words, Paterno never himself witnessed a crime by University officials. Finally, do you really think that Paterno wants to try and sue PSU for his job? Just imagine what the sharks would do to him under deposition...

[Sensei]

This type of thinking is very dangerous stuff. Ever read about the Salem Witch Trials?

Slow down big guy. This is a gun forum. We are all friends here shooting the shit. No one is getting burned at the stake.

[montanadave]

Slow down big guy. This is a gun forum. We are all friends here shooting the shit. No one is getting burned at the stake.

Actually, we might not want to rule that out just yet. Check this out: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/1...dal/?hpt=hp_t2

The Roman Catholic Church wants to lend their expertise in confronting sexual abuse scandals to Penn State.

You can't make this shit up.

Seriously, I think I hear hoofbeats.