By Dick Miller
10. March 2013 23:27
WE CONNECT DOTS: The judge who presided over the state grand jury that indicted former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky for child molestation has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate grand jury leaks.
Judge Barry Feudale is on senior status with the state’s Commonwealth Court. He appointed current Lancaster County assistant district attorney James Reeder with special powers that expire Aug. 8. The six-month appointment took effect Feb. 8 but was not discovered by the media until three weeks later.
The order gives Reeder power to probe the 33rd and 36th Statewide Investigating Grand Juries and the Dauphin County Fourth Investigating Grand Jury. The 33rd also charged ex-PSU President Graham Spanier, ex-athletic director Timothy Curley and retired V.P. for finance and business, Gary Schultz for covering up Sandusky’s actions.
A Center County common pleas jury convicted Sandusky last year and he is serving a 60-year prison term. The other three await trial.
Reeder may cross paths with new Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s special prosecutor. Keeping a campaign promise, Kane appointed college professor H. Geoffrey Moulton to determine if Gov. Tom Corbett slow-walked the Sandusky probe to accommodate his gubernatorial campaign.
The Dauphin County Fourth Investigating Grand Jury probed Scranton businessman Louis DeNaples’ pursuit of a slot machine license seven years ago. Another judge dismissed perjury charges against DeNaples in 2009. Feudale did not explain how the two grand juries are related.
The 36th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury has yet to be empaneled. Feudale did not say how his prosecutor will investigate leaks in a grand jury that never existed.
Gov. Corbett served as attorney general during the periods of both the 33rd Statewide and 4th Dauphin County grand juries. He has defended himself against charges of politicizing the criminal judicial process to advance his gubernatorial campaign. Reeder was an assistant attorney general, helping Corbett indict and prosecute legislators and their staff in the probe known as “Bonusgate.”
Feudale did not explain how Reeder would or could remain objective while investigating his former boss, now the Governor.
Until Judge Feudale penned this order, few were aware that secrecy in these grand juries was an issue. When attorneys for DeNaples raised this issue in 2009, a special prosecutor reported in 2010 that he was unable to learn where the leaks occurred.
Reeder will only be paid $72 per hour on this assignment. He can hire an assistant at $20 per hour and must complete his work and file a report by August 8. Moulton also makes $72 per hour, but is on no deadline.
The Judge said he may elect to withhold parts of Reeder’s report from the public.
If the leaks, as perceived by Judge Feudale, involve the Penn State matter, trials of the three University officials could be delayed until after August 8. This would put these trials on the front pages as Corbett runs for a second term as governor.
The Attorney General usually asks the Court to empanel a grand jury. This statewide grand jury met in secret in the offices of the Attorney General meaning the leak, if any, happened in a building overseen by Corbett.
Feudale may believe that since the leaks happened on his watch, he is responsible for plugging them. He also could be running interference for Corbett, hoping to make Reeder’s findings of greater public interest than the Governor’s machinations.
In the past Newslanc has wished for a permanent state inquisitor not encumbered by time or specific purpose. It appears Geoffrey Moulton is that person. Kane’s selection was a poor one since Mr. Moulton found nothing illegal with the government manslaughter of 72 people (25 were children) at Waco, Tx in 1993. Shame on her. We can connect dots too.