PROSECUTORS - POWER CONFLICT and CORRUPTION with UNLIMITED RESOURCES

FEAR & LOATHING in HAPPY VALLEY
by Barry Bozeman (an homage to Dr. Gonzo, who would have done justice to this story)

Prosecutors are “shepherds of justice.” When a government lawyer, with enormous resources at his or her disposal, abuses power and ignores ethical standards, he or she undermines public trust and inflicts damage beyond calculation to our system of justice. This consequence, alone, compels the responsible and ethical exercise of this power.

CORBETT, KELLY, BEEMER, FINA, BALDWIN, and FREEH

These 5 PROSECUTORS have the wealth and power of the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at their disposal and, in the case of prosecutor Freeh, 8.2 million Penn State dollars that he used to trash The Penn State Culture. 

CORBETT and BALDWIN both hold or held positions on the Penn State Board of Trustees. 
CORBETT became GOVERNOR.
BALDWIN was the GENERAL COUNSEL for Penn State University.

CORBETT was ATTORNEY GENERAL when the Grand Jury was convened. 
KELLY was CORBETT'S hand picked successor. She did not seek election.
BEEMER was KELLY'S chief of staff. 
FINA was lead prosecutor on the Curley, Schultz, and Spanier cases until he resigned. 
BEEMER took over for FINA.

The SLIME also RISES -- Segments of the following contain language and descriptions Dr. Gonzo might have used were he still with us. Hunter S Thompson (HST) was a master of descriptive hyperbole for effect. Picture: by Ralph Steadman, HST's artist of record.

PROSECUTORS PLAN NOVEMBER 5 PRESS CONFERENCE TO PERSECUTE PENN STATE

Well ... to hell with writing with reserved respect for the subjects of this essay. These malicious mendicants feeding from the public trough don't deserve polite measured consideration. These are bottom-feeding mutants on steroids, unfit for reason or respect. The Commonwealth has had more than its fair share of slimy creatures dredged up from permanently smoldering underground coal pits and fracking contaminated aquifers, particularly the prosecutors and judges who seem to flourish while committing some of the most heinous crimes in memory, crimes against children -- KIDS FOR CASH. 

CORBETT is a real piece of work. You can contemplate his Lebanon Valley BA and St Mary's Law Degree, as the absolute minimum requirement. His stint as counsel for Waste Management is so odorous that he has wiped it from his bio. As a prosecutor, Corbett is ethically unfit by the standards set forth by the American Bar Association: 

“ The duty of a prosecuting attorney is not to persecute, but to prosecute, and that he should endeavor to protect the innocent as well as to prosecute the guilty. He should always be interested in seeing that the truth and the right shall prevail….”

The muddy, blood-spattered path from prosecutor to higher political office is well worn and often traveled. PA politicians have plumbed the furthest depths of this sewer more often than most. It's an obvious route, where vastly superior resources in staff and wealth are pitted against individuals forced to pay hideous amounts of money to well-connected mouthpieces or suffer the consequences of representation by a court-appointed well meaning dullard of less than equal wit with none of the resources. Prosecutors have all the advantage and, too often, pursue publicity or a high conviction rate at the expense of truth or justice. The current reigning champion example of this being The West Memphis Three

These prosecutors began this process by convening a Grand Jury, where they brought in witnesses and asked only the questions they choose without fear of cross-examination. They excluded exculpatory evidence and defense witnesses, while working hand-in-hand with the presiding judge before a jury comprised primarily of people who have nothing better to do. They questioned Penn State administrators without the benefit of counsel concerning decade old recollections of a 10 minute meeting and their actions concerning it.The persecutors then encapsulated indictments in the most extreme and indefensible terms for maximum impact at public disclosure.

These prosecutors chose to command and manipulate public perception by staging a press conference, where they pronounced their targets guilty of these crimes.. Public perception is poisoned from the start by this process. We are led to believe that substantial evidence and reasonable consideration led to the charges presented. Presumption of innocence is a myth, like the ethics of these PA prosecutors. What was the purpose of this theatrical event other than a pernicious attempt to poison public opinion of Penn State University? 

Setting the stage for the Sandusky PENN STATE presentment

Five prosecutors above had much to do with the presentment of November 5, 2011, in this case. Only Freeh was not party to the presentment. Indeed, other prosecutors in the Corbett / Kelly / Beemer / Fina OAG group contributed. Like Jonelle Eschbach, the deputy prosecutor who questioned Paterno in the grand jury and posted on Facebook, after the presentment, that he should not be fired. Paterno was originally “praised” for acting appropriately! Why was she compelled to do this - a guilty conscience, perhaps?

Also on hand were investigators for the Commonwealth. Only the prosecution can afford a supervising investigator, Randy Feathers, and a chief investigator, Anthony Sassano. Both are paid from your tax dollars.

Linda Kelly's stage show circus  produced for maximum media impact featured State Police Commissioner, Frank Noonan, and Kelly's chief of staff, Bruce Beemer, who graced the stage along with Jonelle Eschbach, Randy Feathers, and Anthony Sassano.


Beside her and this crew of suits, Kelly had theatrical visual aids. Two large posters, complete with the Seal of the Commonwealth and the emblem used by PA Law Enforcement, held images of the "criminals," as faces of a Penn State Sex Scandal. 

Equal sized posters held images of Jerry Sandusky (poster 1) and Tim Curley and Gary Schultz (poster 2). Sandusky's image is slightly larger only because there are two images on poster 2. The implication is clear. These "crimes" are equivalent and this case is all about Penn State. 

Prosecuting a twisted old fart like Sandusky just didn't do it for this sensation-seeking prosecutor, her predecessor, or the top staff of Beemer and Fina. An old man, 11 years removed as a Penn State employee, working for The Second Mile charity he founded and used as a hunting ground, wasn't enough to boost political aspirations and public image. These devious manipulators wanted a "case of the decade" and a chance to wring the "happy" out of Happy Valley. Not one Penn State graduate is in the bunch of Corbett, Kelly, Beemer and Fina. Nothing but envy on a Nixonian scale was evident in the impaired self-esteem of this crew of Penn State-hating Corbett loyalists. They made Penn State appear to be a den of child molesting monsters and their enablers. The media supported this attack like a pack of salivating hyenas on crack.

Prosecutors had Mike McQueary, a State College native football hero who starred at the local high school and then stayed to play as QB on the Nittany Lions for Joe Paterno and who was then an assistant coach, on the hook. The Corbett crew knew Mike McQueary had a gambling problem, a personal history of abuse, and had been accused of "sexting" like a low-rent Weiner.

Further anchoring Sandusky's crimes to Penn State, Police Commissioner Noonan opined, "Whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building," Noonan said, "I think you have a moral responsibility to call us." 

But don't bother if you're Mike's father, a doctor, or the Executive Director of The Second Mile (Sandusky's actual employer). Prosecuting a charity doesn't have the same impact as going after a university. Trained medical professionals were given a pass while untrained laymen were indicted, simply because they were Penn State. A Penn State janitor would have been indicted if Noonan had his way, but not the professional Child Psychologist Raykovitz. He was just Sandusky's employer, the one man most responsible for the welfare of these children with the training to recognize the problem. Is Noonan just a Corbett lapdog or does he suffer from too much exposure to mind-destroying substances? That kind of legal logic indicates an obvious failure in judgment. 

The perfect storm
TRUTH wasn't even a low-priority afterthought for the Corbett-inspired prosecution team. They wanted publicity. Corbett and company didn't even require convictions to seriously hurt Penn State. They had the perfect storm. The leader and benefactor, Corbett, had been elevated to Governor of the Commonwealth, a position that carried with it one particular plum of priceless value in the quest to knock the pride out of the Lions. Corbett got a seat on the Penn State Board of Trustees and, even more importantly, the right to appoint one third of that Board's members and political influence over corporate heads of Agriculture, Business and Industry members of the board. The only element Corbett required was one Paterno-hating ally -- John Surma -- and he could direct the response by the board, the only entity that could speak for Penn State IF they could eliminate President Graham Spanier. 

The prosecutors' presentment says that Mike McQueary saw a boy (victim 2) being "subjected to anal intercourse" by Sandusky  IN MARCH OF 2002. It says that Mike told THAT to Joe Paterno and then to AD Tim Curley and VP Gary Schultz. NONE OF THIS IS the TRUTH. It is only what these demented publicity hungry monsters wanted the press and their public to believe. Truth wasn't even on their radar. 

The manipulation of the law and devious depths of depravity and misuse of power were nowhere more evident than the use of the March 2002 date in this presentment. These prosecutors were fully aware of the true date being 2001, but 2001 was beyond the statute of limitations so ... to hell with the law and the truth! They decided to change the year and worry about how to finesse it later. 2001 wouldn't work if this was to be the Penn State Sex Scandal! There is good reason for a 10 year limitation on perjury and failure to report. Memories of words used, event sequence, and state of mind grow vague and dim with time. 

The "accused" others

Athletic Director Tim Curley is a very nice guy. He was well liked by fellow Penn State administrators and employees and was a competent and effective AD. Curley was appointed on December 30, 1993. During his 18 years as athletic director, Penn State won 18 national championships and 64 Big Ten titles and, aside from a problem with women's basketball coach, Rene Portland, Curley's athletic department was relatively free from bad publicity. 

Head Football Coach Joe Paterno was an aging icon. Elements in the PSU power structure thought it was time for him to go. Curley already had that well in hand with President Spanier. Paterno had signed an agreement early in the fall of 2011 that he would retire at the end of the 2011/12 season. 

Vice President Gary Schultz should not have been involved in any of this. He was asked back from retirement when his successor left unexpectedly, to fill in until a permanent replacement could be found. In addition to overseeing the physical plant, Gary had vast responsibilities for transportation, environmental protection, budgets, public safety, business services, auxiliary enterprises, hotels and conference centers, housing and food services.

Curley and Schultz were generally revered by their employees, by colleagues in the administration, and by the public they served. They were both known for their honesty and integrity, leading conservative life styles, and being family oriented "boy scouts." It is difficult to imagine a prosecutor picking on two finer people. Friends, colleagues, former athletes, alumni, and donors who know them don't believe any of this nonsense for a minute.

Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were specialized administrators with difficult and demanding jobs on a major university campus. They knew how to run an athletic department and how to operate and maintain all of the physical buildings and grounds of the university's widespread campuses. But they have no background in psychology, the law, or how to handle a strange and muddled account about a former coach and a boy in a locker room by an assistant coach. Further, they were very busy men. 

Curley was called in as Joe's boss. Schultz came because Tim asked him to come along when they visited Joe that Sunday in February. Joe told them an assistant coach was upset by what he encountered at the Lasch Athletic facility the night before. It involved Jerry Sandusky, a former coach no longer under Joe's supervision, and a boy of about 10 years. Curley and Schultz both knew Sandusky as a charity founder, adoptive father of six, foster father, and former coach who was known to be dedicated to the welfare of children and a physically demonstrative man. 

RECOUNTING THE McQUEARY STORY -- a necessary refresher.

So close your eyes and try to imagine a 10-minute meeting in a small conference room at Penn State ten days after that visit to Paterno. McQueary told Curley and Schultz a short story of hearing THREE SLAPS -- not "rhythmic sexual slaps" but "clap clap clap." He thought, perhaps, a couple was in the shower area doing something sexual, not the sound of wet feet or palms on a floor, wall, or thighs (what you or I might think hearing slapping sounds). He caught a one or two second glimpse of Sandusky's back, moved a couple of feet and saw the head of a child peek out around a corner wall. He reported no fear or distress on the boy's face. There was no cry of pain, no protest, no plea for help. He does nothing a fit former quarterback and coach might be expected to do if he witnessed a sexual assault on a boy. 

Who should have reported?
Instead of protecting a child from some suspected assault, McQueary rushed home to tell his father, John McQueary, and John's employer, the highly respected Dr Jonathan Dranov. Those three decided to do nothing to protect that child from danger that night -- a clear indication they thought there was no danger. Dranov asked Mike, three times, if he saw anything sexual and, three times, Mike mentions "CLAP CLAP CLAP". Two respected medical professionals who know Mike best decide not to inform anyone that night when authorities might have found Sandusky with the child. These medical professionals are not charged with failure to report. Why not? 

Tim and Gary informed Sandusky and Second Mile director, Dr. Jack Raykovitz., that Jerry was no longer welcome to use PSU workout and shower facilities with Second Mile children. As Sandusky's employer and Executive Director of TSM, Raykovitz,the child psychologist, a mandated reporter, is on record that he did not notify authorities or members of his board of directors. Yet he is not charged with failure to report.  Why not?

Tim and Gary believed they were informed about an incident of 'horsing around' in a shower in a 10 minute meeting 10 days after the incident. Sandusky had been involved with TSM for decades and Tim and Gary had only heard great things about this man lauded for his charity work by George Bush and Senator Santorum. They had no reason to think "child molester" and every reason to think McQueary's suspicion based on "CLAP CLAP CLAP" was a bizarre over-reaction.

The two men who knew Mike McQueary best don't buy his story of assault that night. These respected medical professionals choose not to call authorities when any 'assault' was fresh. A third expert - a child psychologist, Sandusky's employer, and director of the charity for children where contact with the child was made, fails to report the incident or do anything to curtail Sandusky's activities. But authorities choose to blame and charge two men who have no experience with Mike's veracity and no training to equip them to know anything about 'grooming behavior' or child abuse. This malicious selective prosecution should make you cringe. 

Disturbing and important details 

A man of Sandusky's height and size with a small boy whose head reached his pectoral muscles was what McQueary described. Do these prosecutors want the world to believe Mike witnessed anal intercourse between these two? There were no screams of pain, no fear, no cry for help when McQueary appeared, but prosecutors claim sexual assault?

Never underestimate the duplicity and gullibility of the media when there is advertising to be sold and attention paid to a "scandal" involving a charity founder raping a small boy with a famous coach and university covering it up! Don't bore the media with obvious incongruous details that run counter to their salacious narrative. The image to the left makes some people cringe, but this is the size relationship McQueary described.

Refute this logic PLEASE - Two competent and caring administrators with massive responsibilities hear about 3 slaps and an undisturbed child with a well renowned charity founder. The witness tells responsible medical professionals who know him well that very night who do nothing. They inform the one person with responsibility for the child and HIS employee. And the only persons charged with failure to report or endangering are the two very busy administrators and the President of the University? What is selective prosecution if this isn't it? Either all these people are criminally liable for some failure to know Sandusky's behavior is criminal or none of them should be. 

Funny thing though - both Wendell Courtney and Gary Schultz believe a report was made to CYS. Kelly's OAG could find no record of such a report for March 2002 - small wonder since it was made in 2001. Freeh, with $8.2 million in fees, never even looked. Since CYS only keeps records for 10 years at most all anyone has to go on are decade old memories. 

We keep hearing Joe Paterno's ill advised general statement of concern for Sandusky's victims. "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." misquoted by people like Joel Myers 'I should have done more'. An 85 year old suffering from cancer that would end his life brief weeks later is taken to task for compassion. His remarks twisted by enemies and the media to paint him as knowing he was dealing with a serial pedophile. The reasons for Miranda and saying nothing were never more evident. Mike's 10 minutes with Joe are as vague in Joe's mind as was his 10 minute meeting with Tim and Gary. Had Mike told any of them he observed a sexual assault or a rape that would have been remembered.    

The jury in the Sandusky trial thought McQueary's story was BULLSHIT. The charge of "involuntary deviate sexual intercourse" with this victim 2 is one of three charges adjudicated as "not guilty" in that massive conviction and life sentence for Sandusky. But the obvious fact that this particular verdict cleared Penn State of the one charge that turned the Sandusky Scandal into the Penn State Sex Scandal went without notice or publicity in the wake of the mass of guilty verdicts. The prosecuting vermin and their leader, the Governor, got away with their defamation of Penn State even when the jury ruled against them, proving that all it took was an accusation, not a conviction. And the media that loved the story of Joe's fall and Penn State's guilt would not print the story of their mistake and the prosecutors' lies.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity." -- Hunter S. Thompson 

It's a damned shame that the good Doctor Gonzo is no longer with us to lay waste to the twisted mediocrities and pimps that populated the fourth estate during this affair. When a government analyst and a retired audio professional are among the very few remaining that care enough about the truth to research and write it, devious sewer rats like Corbett, Freeh, Kelly, Fina, Beemer, and Baldwin can get away with serious damage. The defamation of Paterno and persecution of Spanier, Curley, and Schultz, based on decade old memories of a murky tale told by compromised and likely coerced 'gambling' Mike is a massive travesty. A great man died prematurely, his honor and legacy shattered by these absurd charges. Is Joe's premature death on their hands? The main prosecution LIE condemning Penn State was judged "NOT GUILTY," but it seems as if no one even noticed. 

The media blew this disaster up from the beginning -- that was to be expected given the carefully crafted and staged performance of the Persecution Team. They wanted a trial by media based on their lies and baseless assertions. Prosecutors used the power you granted them and the dollars you pay in taxes to play the media like a circus calliope. Prosecutors erected the big top and called in the clowns, flying elephants, and dancing ponies, but in the end their 'evil Penn State leaders case' is an illusion worthy of Seigfreid and Roy. 

At some point, an honorable and laudable media should see this circus act for the stinking pile of offal it is and go after the obvious malicious selective prosecution with the same zeal they displayed while trashing Penn State and Joe Paterno. Is the media really so clueless as to miss the real difference between the laudable Joe Paterno and the detestable prosecution, or the trained knowledgeable mandated reporters who knew Mike best and two well meaning uninformed university administrators? Is it truly that easy to fool the media and use them to destroy reputations and defame a great institution? A free press is no indication of a worthy press and we see no signs of worthiness yet.  

Prosecution or persecution?
Curley and Schultz remain charged with perjury, obstruction, endangering, and failure to report and they have been joined by former PSU President Graham Spanier, despite the fact that the first presentment by the prosecution was proved to be a lie by the Sandusky jury. Mike McQueary did not witness anal intercourse. He did not tell these unfairly accused men that he did. But that remains what most of the world believes. 

How much tax money has the Commonwealth spent trying to deprive good and honorable men of their freedom based on Mike McQueary's muddled description of three slaps and memories of words used and said way back in 2001? It staggers the imagination to conceive of the depravity and overzealous stretching of the law, altering dates and claiming outright lies in order to bring ridiculous charges based on decade old memories. When does prosecution become persecution? Corbett and company have deprived Penn State of hundreds of millions, student athletes of the right to compete in the post season, good men of their good names and assets, and the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of, at minimum, hundreds of thousands, while focusing on a very human lack of insight into the true nature of a charity owner's after-workout shower with a boy and decade old memories.  

TSM, CYS, and the PA DPW have escaped any and all responsibility in this case, despite the fact that they were the professionals. The only people facing charges are laymen not trained to understand the insidious nature of a molester like Sandusky. The decision to single out Penn State officials in this scandal makes Corbett and his cabal of lawless prosecutors a detestable insult to the good people of the Commonwealth, worthy of nothing less than complete contempt.  

TOMORROW: Get ready for Ray Blehar's detailed compelling take down of these twisted PROSECUTORS and how the MEDIA is a part of the real "CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE" in Pennsylvania.  

 Apologies to Dr. Gonzo for the inability to match his superior talent in this attempt to mimic his method. No apology will be forthcoming to the persecutors who misused their power in their lust to condemn Penn State. Hunter Thompson despised Nixon, who he claimed represented "that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character." I sense a similar streak of venal darkness here. Is it presumptive to assume he might feel the same? I only enjoyed a few evenings with the good Doctor in the bar of the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, CO, a long time ago, but I am confident he would have enjoyed skewering this particular bevy of buffoons with his scathing words of wit.