April 30 (Reuters) – A Pennsylvania school district on
Monday moved to quash a subpoena asking for psychological and
other records of one of the 10 boys Penn State coach Jerry
Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing.
The subpoena targeting the school district superintendent
raised objections last week from prosecutors who accused
Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, of embarking on a “fishing
expedition” for information to defend Sandusky.
Prosecutors also criticized Sandusky’s lawyer for revealing
the name of Victim 1 in the subpoena, which authorities redacted
before including it in the court file.
Victim 1 is among 10 boys Sandusky is charged with sexually
abusing between 1994 and 2008. A grand jury indictment said
Sandusky performed oral sex on him more than 20 times when he
was 13 or 14 years old, had Victim 1 perform oral sex on him one
day and also touched the child’s genitals.
Sandusky was barred from Victim 1’s school district,
headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, not far from Penn
State, after the child’s mother reported the allegations to the
school.
Sandusky, 68, who has maintained his innocence, is under
house arrest in the scandal that rocked the world of collegiate
sports and led to the firing in November of Penn State’s
president Graham Spanier and legendary football coach Joe
Paterno, who died of lung cancer in January.
At Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where
Sandusky’s trial is set to begin on June 5, lawyers for Kelly
Hastings, superintendent of the Keystone Central School
District, moved to quash the subpoena, calling it “unduly
broad.”
The subpoena seeks the complete school record of Victim 1,
outlining 13 different categories of information including all
IQ testing, disciplinary records, psychological diagnosis,
attendance records and even report cards.
“The Defendant must articulate a reasonable basis for the
request as utilizing subpoenas to compel production of documents
for inspection or for a fishing expedition is improper,” the
school district lawyers said.
Asked to respond to the school district’s motion, Amendola
said in an email to Reuters, “We’ll address Keystone Central’s
motion in court in due course.”
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
